The University of Massachusetts’ fundraising performance has been less than spectacular, says a recent report by a non-profit education organization.
The revenue shortage has been largely attributed to deteriorating relationships with alumni, the University’s lack of influence in Massachusetts politics, and the absence of a Division 1-A football team.
According to a study conducted by the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), the UMass campus ranked 33rd of 50 in total fundraising donations among universities of about 25,000 students. The CAE claimed UMass Amherst raised a total of $28.7 million in 2006 – well below the median of $48.4 million.
UMass may struggle most because it lacks pull in state politics. Unlike private schools like Boston College, who are notorious for churning out future Massachusetts politicians, UMass does not have that kind of influence, a Boston Globe article pointed out in August.
Having alumni in political positions brings about monetary advantages from the state and the lobbyists who support them. Unfortunately, no state legislative leaders are UMass alumni.
The Globe also identified the lack of a Division 1-A football program as a factor in the low fundraising total.
For UMass to become a Division 1-A program, a new stadium would first need to be built and a change in schedule would be required.
However, such a move would be expected to bring more high-profile football programs to the Amherst campus, which in turn would attract more fans and alumni to the games. Ticket sales would increase, and the thrill of playing for a Division 1 program would attract more prize recruits to the university.
The overall product would become much more profitable for UMass. Coupling the new stadium and new schedule together would certainly raise the revenue stream to well above $28.7 million, according to the Globe.
The percentage of alumni donating to UMass has also dropped every year since 2002.
However, the administration does see positive strides being made. Jaymie Chernoff, the director of board relations for the University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation, told the Boston Globe in August, “When you’re starting off, you are spending money to build relationships with alumni that haven’t heard from the college in 20 years. It takes a while working with people before they are ready to make a large donation.”
Bill Simmons, the senior vice president of a fundraising consulting firm which has been working with UMass officials in various capacities for the past five years, told the Globe, “Other programs have been at this a long time and have it down to a science. It’s not surprising it hasn’t jump-started overnight. Once alumni have become disconnected, it’s practically impossible to get them back.”
Officials within the university administration declined to comment, but they pointed to the fact that the UMass system’s endowment has risen from $143 million in 2003 to $348 million this year, according to the August article in the Globe. The Globe story reported much of that total has been generated from the smaller UMass branches around the state of Massachusetts.
The CAE report also compared UMass to leading fundraising schools like the University of North Carolina, the highest fundraising university in the country in 2006. On average, those schools raised $160 million in donations and spent an average of $23 million on fundraising. According to the CAE, UMass Amherst raised $33 million in donations and pledges while spending $7.5 million on fundraising.
Attempts to reach UMass President Jack Wilson and Vice Chancellor Michael Gargano for this article went unreturned.
Andy Smith can be reached at [email protected].
