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Building a culture of philanthropy
201 Plays6 months ago
Dan talks with Kevin Crowe, associate VP for Development and COO of the 49er Foundation, about philanthropy and development.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'At the Beach' Podcast
00:00:17
Speaker
Hello, I'm Dan Montoya, Vice President for University Relations and Development. Welcome to At the Beach. This podcast is produced by URD. It shares news and accomplishments and honors personal stories and ways listeners can become involved with Cal State Long Beach.
Meet Kevin Crow: Career in Higher Education Fundraising
00:00:34
Speaker
Today, I'm happy to introduce my guest, Kevin Crow, Associate Vice President for University Relations and Development.
00:00:40
Speaker
And Kevin has worked in higher education fundraising throughout his career, first at USC, where he served as assistant director of development and alumni relations, and later at Occidental College, where he served as associate director for major gifts. In 2006, Kevin joined us here at the beach as a director of development for the College of Liberal Arts, and he has served in leadership roles of increasing responsibility throughout his CSULB career.
00:01:10
Speaker
He served as the Executive Director of Development, Assistant Vice President of Major and Principal Gifts, and Associate Vice President for Development. In his current role, Kevin focuses on building and maintaining a strong team of professional fundraisers who work closely and collaboratively with deans, faculty, and peers to develop and execute programs, initiatives, and activities that increase private giving, volunteer involvement, and constituency engagement. He also serves as the COO of the CSULB 49er Foundation. Welcome, Kevin. Thanks, Dan.
00:01:50
Speaker
So today we want to have a conversation about development. I think there is a big, I don't know if it's a myth or misunderstanding of what development is and how it fits into the picture of higher education.
What is Development in Higher Education?
00:02:07
Speaker
So maybe that's, that's, you know, give a definition of what you think development is and as it relates to higher education and what role it plays here at CSULB.
00:02:19
Speaker
Well, Dan, development really is dealing with philanthropy, and it's a people's good will in giving their time, treasure, and talent back to a charity organization for our part being Cal State University Long Beach. And our role as development officers is really being a philanthropic broker of trying to identify people that have philanthropic interest in giving to the institution, ah finding their passions and their values, and matching them with our mission here at the university.
00:02:50
Speaker
really brokering that deal as state employees for the university, but really representing both sides and trying to figure out how best to meet the needs and the passions and the interests of our students, faculties, and program. So Kevin, that's that's a that's a great definition. um Talk to us about the fundamentals of fundraising. you know What does it take on a day-to-day basis to get out there and interact with people you may or may not know? And how do you how do you pitch them something that is not really tangible but it's more of an opportunity?
00:03:23
Speaker
Well, that's what we really enjoy as fundraisers is every day is different for us. um And the one thing is people always say, how can you go out and ask people for money? We're not asking people for money. We're asking them to invest in their institution, their alma mater, their university of choice. And so it's really something that we enjoy going out and talking to people, ah meeting with people that are, for the most part, good hearted, generous, philanthropic, and just really have a passion to give back to their university. Right.
00:03:54
Speaker
so So talk to us on a typical day what a development officer does. um Again, this is, you know, you a lot of people at the university know that we have development officers in the colleges and in some of the units. What is their day like? So as associate vice president, I'm more in the managerial role of working with the development officers on a day to day basis.
00:04:20
Speaker
But a college-based development officer has a full-time portfolio ah where they're out meeting with people, engaging them, sharing the good news about the university, and trying to figure out how to engage them closer with Cal State University Long Beach. Myself, along with you, Dan, we work at that principal gifts level for those higher gifts, people that are really making a significant impact at the university.
00:04:45
Speaker
And so you've been at Cal State Long Beach for a while. um How would you characterize maybe the community and the donors here in Long Beach?
Community Support & Successful Campaigns
00:04:55
Speaker
I know there's a huge pride in them supporting the university, but maybe kind of explain your experience with with our donors here at the beach.
00:05:05
Speaker
So Cal State Long Beach is very fortunate because we have a great community here in the city. ah We're one of 23 campuses in the state of California. Each campus fundraise is slightly different, whether it's alumni, whether it's corporate and foundation relations. Our sweet spot historically has been through the friends, the community members here in Long Beach. And that's been our success at the university through our first campaign, Declare, and also in our current campaign that we just concluded, No Barriers.
00:05:35
Speaker
So um i'm I'm glad you segued into the no barriers. You were here from the beginning and you've seen it through the end. Talk to us a little bit about what no barriers you know is and was and how we navigated that. um you know Again, I attribute your your success to, or the campaign success to much of the work that you and your team have done.
00:05:59
Speaker
So talk to us a little bit about, you know, from the beginning of the campaign to where we are now. And and what have you seen through the course of of the campaign? The No Barriers campaign has been a great success for the university at various levels. ah We had a ah working goal of 275 million. We concluded slightly over 313 million. ah We also dealt with the pandemic. And I think that really had a significant impact on the university, on our philanthropy. We were able to really engage a lot of alumni and donors through the pandemic at various levels, especially through our basic needs program.
00:06:37
Speaker
and ah Throughout the campaign, we were very fortunate to secure some principal gifts, which were at that $10 million dollars level. So ah for the most part, we had a $10 million dollars gift every year during the campaign, which really took us from a $25 to $30 million dollars program to that $35 plus million dollar program.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah, and and again, it's much of that success is to the daily conversations and the conversations that have happened you know years before the campaign even started. but Maybe you can
Building Donor Relationships
00:07:11
Speaker
and talk to us a little bit about you know that pipeline process and and what it takes to actually bring in a principal gift of that size of 10 million, 25 million. How much time does it take to build that relationship?
00:07:25
Speaker
It takes a lot of time. It really is a lot of time and effort, relationship building, engagement, ah in order to get a major gift, which we define currently as a $25,000 gift or more. ah But to get to that principle gift, it takes years, literally. ah We have one development officer who started Over five years ago, and some of those gifts are coming through right now at those million dollar plus level. So it really is an investment. That's something that we're very fortunate here at Cal State Long Beach with the longevity of our development officers i throughout our field. We have a lot of turnover.
00:08:00
Speaker
And so we've been very fortunate to have, probably our average is somewhere in the five to seven year range. But we have officers that have been here 17 years, 11 years, seven years, nine years, and so on. And that really is important in the college is to build those relationships. Because when you have turnover, you lose that connection with those potential donors. so And so that's where we've been very fortunate to have a long term longevity in the development office with our directors of development.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree that is a rarity and having worked in in different other universities, there is quite a bit of turnover. And so I think ah it's amazing that we've been able to do it. I think also that is attributed to your leadership and the culture that you create. You know, maybe you can share with us about how you've built that culture within the fundraising team.
00:08:51
Speaker
And, you know, what are the expectations of them? Like how many times a month should they be getting out and talking to people? sure Well, it's very important when we hire someone, and I appreciate the support from you, Dan, and a previous vice president to really select the right person for these roles as a college directors of development.
00:09:10
Speaker
And so we do set high expectations with performance metrics. But I really consider it our family. And we all get along. It's great that there's no tension amongst the development officers. Everyone works well in their college or their respective areas.
00:09:23
Speaker
But with the performance metrics, we have a substantive contacts, which are those personal visits. And that's a minimum of 12 a month, which is probably industry average. It should be somewhere in that 10 to 15 range. ah We also have a minimum of two major gift solicitations per month, which would be 24 per year, and then also the cash dollar ah that they need to raise, a million dollars or more per year in cash. So there's additional metrics, but those are kind of the key one is get out their visit,
00:09:54
Speaker
Go talk to people, engage them, ask them to support the university, and bring the dollars in to support our students, faculty, and programs. So so in this job, we get ah told no a lot, right? And so it's a lot of times you're calling people and we're just saying, look, we we want to connect with you. We want to engage you. We want to hear your story about your experience with the university.
00:10:16
Speaker
What would you say to potential donors or alumni or community members who ah get a call from the development officer? And and you know how could we open their minds to say, hey, you know take that call, take that visit?
00:10:30
Speaker
It really is. I mean, we're those philanthropic brokers. We're trying to update you on your alma mater. So I hope that alumni and friends will take our phone calls. We'll take our emails. We'll take our letters when we follow up with a phone call. ah We're really trying to engage you with the university and provide you more than just asking for money, but engage you with the university. Again, time, treasure, talent is really what we're looking for. Maybe you can come speak in a classroom.
00:10:54
Speaker
but Maybe you can help with the alumni engagement. We have a brand new alumni center named after Anna Nye, and it's a terrific opportunity to come back, look at your alma mater, and see what it is today. Yeah, and um we we invite people to come back and take tours and get to know that this university is not what it used to be. It's evolved in so many years. so And you've been here for a while. Talk to us about how the landscape has changed here on campus since you've been here.
00:11:22
Speaker
Well, besides the alumni count almost doubling since I've been here, we've had a lot of capital improvements. In addition to the Anani Alumni Center, we have the Student Rec and Wellness Center, which recently opened several years ago. ah We have some new capital enhancement. We have a new Student housing building on campus in addition to some future plans for student housing along with the Hall of Science. So a lot of exciting things are taking place where there's also an upcoming renovation of the new student union, ah which we taking in place in the next couple of years. So we hope you'll come back. That's great. um
00:11:58
Speaker
What do you think? how our team you know from the frontline perspective what do you think What will you challenge them to focus on here in the next five years, right? Because the landscape is changing. The way we reach out to donors is changing. The the donor base itself is changing, right? So what are we what what do you do to encourage them to say, hey, you know let's focus on this pipeline. Let's focus on building that. But what strategies or ideas do you give them to focus on?
00:12:34
Speaker
Well, pipeline is crucial to our success, and it's something that we're constantly working on, trying to identify new alumni, individuals, corporations, foundations that can engage with the university. And so as we continue to engage them, build our pipeline for future success, ah we always have opportunities from everything, from student scholarships at the undergraduate and the graduate level,
00:12:59
Speaker
ah to capital naming opportunities that can help those programs. Just walking across campus this morning, I saw a lot of different programs and centers that had names that could obviously tie an individual or a foundation's name to that program or center ah that could help that center grow and prosper. So I think that's really what we're looking for is additional student support, faculty support with endowed chairs and programs, and then creating new programs and centers across campus that can help our students succeed.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, and and I don't know i don't know that um our donors are many people. Well, our donors do, but a lot of their community folks don't really and understand the impact ah
Impactful Programs at CSULB
00:13:40
Speaker
to our students. And really, that's what we're here for, to enhance their experience and help them launch and and be successful.
00:13:47
Speaker
Is there any particular programs that you you know really that really caught your eye or or you have seen grow through the years and and the and the impact that it's made on those particular students? The President's Scholars has always been a kind of that top program at the university, starting with President Maxson and all the way up to President Connolly today. ah That's one area that we want to continue to focus on, ah along with the Honors Program.
00:14:16
Speaker
The other area that I've really seen grown and I've seen it grow across the system that I think has a lot more potential is the Guardian Scholars Program. It's a terrific program. We've had some funding throughout the years. We've had some significant gifts, but I think there's a lot more potential in supporting our Guardian Scholars.
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. we We did a yeah podcast earlier in the month with ah with the Garden Scholars and and that and also Project Rebond is another one that has really come into light considering, you know, giving people a second chance in life. And so I think we will continue to highlight those um programs and and allow people to come in and interact with them and get to know them.
00:14:57
Speaker
So so what what is it that keeps you excited about fundraising? You know, you you've been in the game for a while, you've seen you've seen so many iterations of it, right? So what keeps you excited and and what what things are you looking forward to learning more about um as this industry evolves?
00:15:20
Speaker
Well, I love this profession. It's a wonderful working with the alumni and the donors that support this institution. It just makes my day great walking onto campus. Cal State Long Beach is a wonderful campus every morning coming on to it and talking to the people, whether it's the groundskeepers, to the faculty, to the staff. It's just a wonderful campus to work on. I've been here ah going on 18 years. ah It's kind of my extended family, and we have a great division, ah University Relations and Development, going from alumni to communications to development.
00:15:57
Speaker
It's really been a great family. And when I first started and I heard people were here for five years, 15 years, 30 years, I just thought that's amazing. And now going on almost 20 years, I see why. It's really a great beach family. Yeah, that's awesome. And again, I commend you for that because ah you're right. I've only been here a short time and I understand what you're talking about when it when you say beach family and the beach pride of the community.
00:16:23
Speaker
it's ah It's a special place and there's a lot of great things happening here and it's great to see a lot of our staff and faculty be here for a long time. So, you know, hiring has always, you know, it's been a challenge here in the last couple of years. What are you hiring for and what are you looking to do and as far as and building the team?
00:16:48
Speaker
So we're always trying to continue to expand our development program. And right now we have a director of development for the College of Arts that we're searching for. ah And the other position is a senior director for the Corporate and Foundation Relations. This position's a brand new position, the Corporate and Foundation Relations senior director. And we're really excited because I think this will help enhance our fundraising program overall. ah Currently, we do raise funds from corporations and foundations, but it's dependent on the college directors of development.
00:17:17
Speaker
to work with faculty and staff on those opportunities. so So this is one person that would work centrally with all of the colleges and units across campus to really collaborate and also see if we can do some cross collaboration across the colleges and units, whether it's STEAM or anything like that, that might help. Also with de Division of Student Affairs, I think there's a lot of opportunity where we can continue to increase the amount of fundraising with our programs.
00:17:43
Speaker
Right, and so let's let's also kind of break down philanthropy and what that means. People often think of philanthropists as these million and billion dollar donors. Talk about how philanthropy can be simple as a dollar. like You know, what can that do for the university? Really, as every dollar counts. As we have concluded our No Barriers campaign, we see a significant number of donors have come at that level below $500. So that's really what we look at through our annual fund and our leadership program.
00:18:17
Speaker
of ah asking our alumni and friends to support the various programs, whatever their interest is. Something that we talked to our graduating seniors. We hope you'll give back, whether it's a dollar tomorrow or $10 million 20 years from now. But we every dollar counts. Alumni participation is important. And so that's something that we really look at is continued investment. During the pandemic, as I mentioned earlier,
00:18:42
Speaker
We had our basic needs program that was very successful and I think that's one area that people have a lot of interest in that can really make a huge benefit to our students that are home insecure or just needing that extra meal. I think one of the things that we always encourage is the participation in philanthropy and and just to get involved. um i I see philanthropists of all magnitudes from a dollar to billions of dollars as silent superheroes because a lot of people don't understand the impact that they make on our first gen students, students of color, minoritized students. And when we go to graduation,
00:19:23
Speaker
And you are a big part of that because you are the one that is in charge of making sure the names are read across the stage. um You know, it's it's a special moment and we all know that we played a part in it. so So let's talk about graduation. I mean, that is an amazing moment. But from your perspective, you get to actually read the names, not read them, but make sure they're read. And you've done this for, you know, the past couple of years for thousands of students. I mean, what is your experience as far as like watching these people cross the stage?
00:20:00
Speaker
Commencement's just a wonderful time. It's several days at Angel Stadium, but being able to see all the students walk across the stage, it's really valuable to me. And to be able to see the students with their smiles, they're shaking their hands are shaking as they hand me the card, they're nervous.
00:20:20
Speaker
They're saying they're going to pass out and there's a whole team of us on stage. And so it's just wonderful to see them go across the stage waving to their family, seeing their family in tears. They're in tears. But again, being a significant number of first generation students. And it's just wonderful to see the impact that Cal State Long Beach is making on their lives and the community.
00:20:41
Speaker
Yeah, and and also when when I'm up there, I think about um the all the philanthropy that has impacted these different colleges, right? Because, you know, you you'll still come in through engineering or business or and you know, yeah, you know, there's there's scholarships that came in through those areas. there's ah program support and so many different things. And I think that is a special moment. So let's let's kind of dig in a little bit, you know, deeper into Kevin, right? You know, ah we we not only go out there and seek money, but we we are philanthropists ourselves, right? And I love to support our veterans program, because I'm an a veteran, love the Guardian Scholars and different other elements of campus, especially through our Giving Days or Giving Tuesday. Those are great opportunities for people to take advantage of.
00:21:29
Speaker
what what What are you passionate about? So I'm passionate about a lot of areas. just Since I started in the College of Liberal Arts and was there for a couple of years, I learned a lot about the different programs and centers, the Haas Center that's there.
00:21:42
Speaker
in the College of Liberal Arts, but I currently philanthropically support the present scholars. That's one area that I've learned a lot about. I've attended a lot of the events, either at the Miller Home or on campus. I've engaged with the students. I've heard from the students and really see what the impact that our philanthropic dollars are doing for these students today. I'm also engaged with a lot of other organizations through my church and through ah My son's high school and my daughter's and now alma mater where she graduated last year So I really enjoy working in philanthropy and volunteering my time treasure and talents yeah, and and that's so important because again it's like when we when we do it from within it feels good to be able to go out there and Talk about it and and ask other people to do the same thing. So um You know, we're going into the 75th year celebration um of the university and you've you've been here
00:22:38
Speaker
18
Looking Forward: CSULB's 75th Anniversary
00:22:39
Speaker
years. you know Talk to us about what that means for you and and what you're looking forward to and in terms of 75 years of of success. It's a great milestone. I'm really excited about it. I know we've talked about it for many years.
00:22:55
Speaker
I remember when they did the 60th anniversary and they were still talking about the 50th, but really looking forward to the 75th. So it's going to be a special time. I hope people will come back to campus, celebrate with us September 28th. We're going to be having an event. It's going to be a wonderful time just to kick off our 75th anniversary.
00:23:14
Speaker
Right, and then also there's there's a committee that's putting together a list of different events throughout the year and we encourage all our community to come out and interact with us and celebrate and ah be part of our success of 75 years on this campus. I know we we recently had an event with the Long Beach Chamber and they recognize us for our 75 years of success and then we also announced our campaign which is really amazing and so we're we're happy to to move into the next iteration of what the beach will be ah in the near future. So as we wrap this up
00:23:50
Speaker
Kevin, and and we we really are going to do a series about ah university relations development, and this is kind of the beginning of it, to educate our campus community and the rest of our community on what university relations and development does. And I think you've outlined and you've shared with us a good definition and and A good snapshot of what development side of university relations and development is, what would you like to you know to say to finish up and really allow people to remember what is development and how relevant it is to this campus? Under your leadership, Dan, we have a great team under university relations and development from
00:24:38
Speaker
Alumni engagement to communications to development. My role is engaging alumni to make philanthropic investments in the institution. I really hope our alumni and friends will engage with the university at all levels. And I hope they'll consider making a gift. Again, whether it's an annual gift, whether it's a major commitment, but making that investment and giving back to your alma mater or your city's university. And how can they do that?
00:25:03
Speaker
Various ways. Easiest way is going online ah to the CSULB.edu website and pressing the Give button. You can give to any area you want. You can give to a specific college. You can give to a scholarship. ah We're willing to help. You can reach out to me, kevin.croweatcsulb.edu.
00:25:23
Speaker
And also, I hope you'll accept the phone calls when we reach out to you, whether it's through the annual fund program or whether it's a development officer calling on behalf of the college or the university. ah Answer the phone. ah Listen to them. Take their phone call. Come back to campus. Come for a tour. We'd love to see you.
00:25:41
Speaker
Yeah, and and I think, ah you know, I would hope people would be more open to that because when they come back to campus, they're goingnna they're going to get to experience some really cool things that maybe they hadn't thought of. And more importantly, they're going to get to interact with students who are amazing and and faculty who are doing amazing research here as well.
00:25:58
Speaker
So Kevin, I just want to say thank you so much for all your hard work because I know you've filled in many positions and and really keeping the team functioning and going. and And we had a very successful year to finish out the campaign and a lot of that was to your leadership. and your ability to navigate them to success. But also as the COO of the 49er Foundation, I appreciate your work on that too because there's a lot of um navigation and administration that happens behind the scenes that a lot of people don't know about.
00:26:33
Speaker
but you play a big part in that as well. So ah thank you for that. And um we look forward to engaging each one of our community members to come back to the campus to give to get involved. So thank you. any Any final words before we close it out?
00:26:48
Speaker
I just want to thank you for inviting me today. Thank you for your leadership and your support. ah We look forward to seeing everybody back on campus for our 75th anniversary in Go Beach. All right. Well, thank you so much. That concludes another episode of At the Beach. I'm your host, Dan Montoya, Vice President for University Relations and Development, which produces this podcast. Thank you for listening and Go Beach.