With the $1.4 billion Campaign Northwestern nearing its goal, Sarah Pearson, the new vice president for university development, has no shortage of tasks on her plate as the university’s chief fund-raiser.
Since arriving on campus Jan. 13, Pearson said she has spent most of her time meeting with school deans and university vice presidents to find out what their needs are once the campaign ends in late August.
“What’s most important now is that I meet each of the deans and I hear what they expect and hope for from university development,” Pearson said. “But we need a little bit of time at the front end to get to know each other.”
While NU’s campaign was about $16 million away from its goal as of Dec. 20, both Pearson and University President Henry Bienen said the university will continue the fund-raising until the Aug. 31 end date in hopes of reaching a final figure of $1.5 billion.
“That’s our dream,” Pearson said. “It’s a very compelling goal, and that’s a hope of ours.”
In a Jan. 17 interview, Bienen told The Daily that the campaign will not be extended beyond August. The campaign’s original goal of $1 billion was reached in November 2000, which prompted university officials to extend the deadline and to increase the goal.
“My goal has always been to try and reach $1.5 billion by the end of the campaign,” Bienen said. “But we’re in a much tougher climate than when we started the campaign.”
Pearson is no stranger to billion-dollar fund-raising. She oversaw the University of Chicago’s ongoing $2 billion campaign as that school’s associate vice president for development and alumni relations prior to accepting the post at NU. She also directed the $1.5 billion Cornell Fund while at Cornell University.
Building on her experience at the University of Chicago, Cornell and the Harvard University-sponsored American Repertory Theatre, Pearson said she would like to involve students in university development, which might include the creation of a student advisory committee similar to the one at the University of Chicago.
“I have a real interest in getting to know students,” Pearson said. “Students are the university, and students are the future alumni.”
Pearson will be responsible for steering the campaign in its final months, which poses a challenge because of the downturn in the economy and the need to plan for the post-campaign period. Bienen said the university possibly will begin “mini-campaigns” to endow chairs for faculty, raise money for summer student research and name recently constructed academic buildings.
“I don’t think we would do another campaign for bricks and mortar as we featured bricks and mortar so much in this campaign,” Bienen said.
As Pearson continues to meet with administrators, she said she will get a feel for post-campaign goals and develop a strategy based on them.
“What’s extraordinary about (NU) is the sense of eagerness about the future,” Pearson said. “There is typically an edge of burnout that the campus would be experiencing at the end of large university campaigns.”
Pearson said the strain of the economy impacts both the university and families who might donate.
“A campaign like this says to the world that we have involved, caring, committed supporters who believe this institution is worthy of this support,” Pearson said. “The only downside is you never raise enough money. But our basic business is relationship-building, and you don’t build relationships in a different way because of a downturn.”
University development staff will seek out “creative ways” for families, businesses, alumni and other donors to give, she added.
Catherine Stembridge, NU’s executive director for alumni relations, said the NU Alumni Association wants to work with university development to increase its visibility among students, adding that alumni-giving figures were below par.
“Students should be aware they are going to be alumni of NU for life,” Stembridge said. “We need to do a better job of communicating that message to our undergraduates, starting with the freshman class, not when they arrive to campus but when they are admitted.”
Pearson said her department also will work with Stembridge to improve alumni giving to NU’s annual fund, which has fallen to relatively low numbers in recent years.
“Every gift counts — that’s a message we have to make sure we are delivering to our alumni,” Pearson said.
