The College's Development Office, in preparation for the Nov. 13 kickoff of a $1.3 billion initiative to improve student life, is seeking to significantly expand its staff.
Individuals will be hired as directors and associate directors of the Gift Planning, Leadership Giving and Individual Giving departments of the Development Office. Additionally, one person will be employed as a donor relations officer, according to recent advertisements for the massive fundraising effort, dubbed the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience.
The College's previous campaign, The Will to Excel, concluded in 1996 with a fundraising achievement of $568 million. Therefore, in order to meet the current goal, which is more than double the previous one, the Development Office has dramatically augmented its budget, and taken on a more extensive staff with hopes that added members can amplify its fundraising power.
Vice President of Development Carrie Pelzel indicated that such a substantial increase in budget necessitated the hiring of additional employees to facilitate fundraising efforts.
"When you're gearing up for a campaign in which you're going to raise dramatically more than in the last campaign, you clearly need to add resources," she Pelzel.
Currently, the Development Office raises $1 for every 12 cents that it spends.
"We anticipate that the ratio will not change in this campaign; in fact, it may go down a bit," said Pelzel.
For any campaign, the primary responsibility of the Development Office is to ensure that the funds exist to meet the campaign priorities, as determined by the College President, the Office of the Provost and undergraduate and graduate deans. The priorities of the current campaign can be divided into four primary areas of support: annual giving to the Dartmouth College Fund and to the three professional schools, financial aid, academic enterprise and residential and campus life programs.
The Development Office acquires the financial support for these priorities by informing alumni about them.
"We involve alumni in conversations about what is necessary to keep the student experience today as strong as it was when they were in college," said Pelzel.
Additionally, the trustees garner funds by making donations themselves and by contacting other alumni, parents and friends of the institution and urging them to contribute. Spearheading the effort are Russell Carson '65, Peter Fahey '68 and Bradford Evans '64.
Evans emphasized the cooperative nature of the relationship between the Board of Trustees and the Development Office.
"There is close coordination between the Board and the Development Office," Evans said. "The Board gets involved in those situations where there is a connection between a board member and potential donor."
