Because U-M increasingly relies on gifts and donor support as state financial support declines, a new Development Community program, coordinated by the Office of University Development, provides major gift officers with a higher level of training to boost staff development.
“Our purpose is to offer university staff an opportunity to increase their professional skills, to help retain the best gift officers, and provide a program that can serve as an attraction to those candidates considering working at the U-M in fundraising,” says Chrissi Rawak, assistant vice president, Talent Management & Development Operations.
The Michigan Philanthropy Academy Major Gift Officer Program positions U-M as an employer that is committed to staff professional development and as a place that values staff enough to invest in them, Rawak says.
“The curriculum was extremely helpful in increasing my awareness of the university and its development culture. It helped me immerse myself in my work and the university in general at a much faster pace,” says Judith Moore, major gifts officer in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, who attended the first program cycle.
“The most valuable part of the program was the stories. I loved hearing the real-life experiences of the colleagues we work so hard to be like,” says program graduate Nicole Borcherding, senior major gifts officer with the U-M Health System.
The curriculum, for gift officers who represent various schools and departments throughout the university, was created by a steering committee representing U-M’s development community. The program focuses on enhancing skills, learning best practices, developing a colleague network, and learning more about philanthropy, the university and their roles as major gift officers.
“To be seen as leaders in higher-ed development for public universities, we must continually invest in our staff and ensure that we build expertise and to share best practices across the university,” says Robin Sober, director of Development Community Learning.
The academy also seeks to train major gift officers to be donor-centric. “We want to give donors the best experience possible. Our role is to engage donors and facilitate the creation of a great relationship with the university,” she says.
Twenty major gift officers completed the nine-month academy pilot in February, and 20 more are participating in a session that began in July.
“We are seeking to build a long-term relationship with donors,” Sober says, adding the relationship starts when those prospective donors are students. It shows a potential to grow when graduates become active with either the Alumni Association, U-M sports or other departments.
“These activities engage them with the university. We see ourselves matching the passion donors have with the needs of the university,” Sober says. Those needs include scholarships, endowed professorships, new program funding, new building and research support. “A gift to U-M helps to advance the student, faculty, staff, community and donor experience,” Sober says.
A key Michigan Philanthropy Academy Major Gift Officer Program activity involves bringing gift officers together regularly to learn about development at U-M, to share best practices and learn from senior gift officers and from each other. The meetings are convened monthly, and typically feature shared stories of best practices, along with speakers from different departments or programs speaking on topics of interest to gift officers. “People share stories on how they solve problems, work effectively with donors, volunteers, colleagues and prospective donors,” Sober says.
She says another reason to get gift officers together from various schools and departments is because donors increasingly have interests in more than one area of the university.
“They often have multiple relationships with the university, through athletics, the hospital, Alumni Association or other areas,” Sober says. “They see the university as a whole and not disjointed. The Michigan Philanthropy Academy Major Gift Officer Program reinforces this university citizen mindset.”
