2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: News
Capital Campaign | Resource centers asked to raise funds
Without loyal alumni base, development directors face challenge of meeting demand
Paul Richards
Penn Libraries, on the other hand, knows that its donor base will generally consist of alumni.
"Most of our donors are people associated with Penn and who have some fondness or emotional attachment to the University," Library development director Adam Corson-Finnerty said.
For example, parents might donate in the interest of their children, or unaffiliated donors might give to existing collections in the rare-books library in which they share a particular interest, he said.
But in a world where the list of potential charities is ever-growing, centers can run into trouble convincing people to open their pocketbooks.
"Sometimes, it's hard to come up against higher education, or, say, cancer research," von Stade said.
And the affiliation with Penn, while generally a blessing, can also be a curse.
"The community in many instances feels that because we are Penn, we're rich. … That's quite unfortunate, because centers do not have tuition income" like schools do, Pollick said.
Despite the challenges, Penn's centers are chugging along, and even if they're at a disadvantage, they seem to be doing just fine.
"There's no discrepancy between the progress of the resource centers and the progress of the schools," Penn President Amy Gutmann said.
"Most of our donors are people associated with Penn and who have some fondness or emotional attachment to the University," Library development director Adam Corson-Finnerty said.
For example, parents might donate in the interest of their children, or unaffiliated donors might give to existing collections in the rare-books library in which they share a particular interest, he said.
But in a world where the list of potential charities is ever-growing, centers can run into trouble convincing people to open their pocketbooks.
"Sometimes, it's hard to come up against higher education, or, say, cancer research," von Stade said.
And the affiliation with Penn, while generally a blessing, can also be a curse.
"The community in many instances feels that because we are Penn, we're rich. … That's quite unfortunate, because centers do not have tuition income" like schools do, Pollick said.
Despite the challenges, Penn's centers are chugging along, and even if they're at a disadvantage, they seem to be doing just fine.
"There's no discrepancy between the progress of the resource centers and the progress of the schools," Penn President Amy Gutmann said.
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