$1.8B Objective Probably Too Low

The philosophy behind the campaign goal-setting process is largely subjective, but fund-raising experts say universities tend to err on the side of caution when setting goals.

"These are just minimum levels of success," said Robert Carter, president and CEO of Ketchum Inc., a consulting firm based in Pittsburgh and Dallas that advises colleges on fund-raising activities.

"No university has ever failed to reach its goal -- I think that says it all."

If anything, Carter said, "mega-fund-raisers" such as UNC intentionally set their goals lower so they can boast when they overshoot them.

UNC fund-raising consultant Burr Gibson, an executive chairman at New Jersey-based Marts and Lundy consulting firm, said aiming low with the intention of topping the goal is a strategy often employed by universities. "It is a better strategy," Gibson said. "The goal does have to be challenging, but on the other hand if you set it too high and stall out, it is not good for the campaign."

John Lippincott, vice president for communications at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, said universities still want to make sure they set a goal they can be proud of.

"The institution certainly does not want to underestimate the funding capabilities because they still have very real needs they are trying to fund," he said.

Paul Fulton, co-chairman of the Carolina First steering committee, admitted UNC likely would top its $1.8 billion goal.

Fulton said the campaign set a conservative goal because most large gifts come from appreciated securities in the stock market. "Our philosophy was that we wanted a realistic goal," he said. "We would have loved to have (made it $2 billion), but it is more realistic and prudent at ($1.8 billion)."

Fund-raising officials are trying to stay confident that the market will bounce back, and Fulton said the goal possibly could be increased down the road.

Although the goal must be attainable -- yet still large enough to inspire potential donors -- its core figure ultimately is based on the needs of the University.

Speed Hallman, director of development communications, said that during the planning phases of Carolina First, administration-appointed committees set the cost of the University's needs at $1.5 billion. The private phase, driven early on by a raging bull market, started off better than expected, and officials raised their sights, he said.

But , Fulton said, "We can't expect it to continue at that pace -- no campaign continues at the pace it started with."

Peter Vaughn, Duke University's director of communications for university development, said campaigns naturally slow toward their ends because they have exhausted their better resources.

"Generally speaking, you approach your best donors first," he said.

But Vaughn said universities set campaign goals that officials can push through to the end. "You can raise $1.99 billion, but if you set your goal at $2 billion and don't reach it, it can leave a bitter taste in people's mouths, even though you might have met 99 percent of your need."

Vaughn said Duke -- now nearing the $2 billion mark in its fund-raising campaign -- originally set a $1.5 billion goal, something officials knew they could attain.

In addition to using similar strategies, universities also look at one another as competitors. With an increased emphasis on private funding to boost an institution's national prominence, universities constantly try to one-up each other with their campaign goals, experts say.

Judy Malcolm, director of development communications and donor relations at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, said school officials are evaluating other schools' campaigns as they plan their next major fund-raising effort.

Carter said that the actual competition for donors is minimal and mostly on the corporate level but that universities still compete to get private funds to keep their national rankings.

In comparison with other major fund-raising campaigns at UNC's peer institutions, experts say with today's announcement that UNC is on track to successfully reaching its goal, especially since it is a conservative projection.

Lippincott said UNC is right on target, if not slightly above average, with its progress in the private phase. "You want to have about 35 to 40 percent of your goal as you come out of the private phase, so UNC is right on target."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.