Recommendations

Staff and Board of Directors can use market trends to increase the productivity of fundraising activities and ensure the vitality and long-term financial sustainability of the Community College. Recommendations include:

1. Maintain or increase investment in fundraising activities.

Nationwide, state funding decreased from 44% of all revenue for community colleges in 2000 (67% in Minnesota) to 37% in 2009 (52% in MN). This trend is expected to continue. Community colleges are increasingly being asked to seek private funds to preserve access, affordability and high-quality programs. As a result, competition for private and external funding is expected to increase among community colleges in Minnesota and nationwide.

2. Continue to increase investments in individual fundraising activities.

Nationally, individuals are the largest source of philanthropic revenue to post-secondary education (43% of total private gifts in 2010), followed by private foundations (30%) and corporate foundations (17%). In 2009, 70% of community college foundations nationwide reported that more than half of all private donations were from individual donors.

3. Invest in personal cultivation activities over special fundraising events.

Community college foundation reported recent declines in giving from special events.  Rather, foundations with successful individual giving programs use events not expressly for fundraising, but to bring the right individuals to campus for donor cultivation.

4. Revisit expectations for alumni giving.

Community college alumni lag far behind alumni at other types of education institutions in the percentage that give (1.1% versus 8.5%) and in average gift size ($241 versus $846).

5. Continue to invest in and develop training programs linked with high-growth and high-demand industries.

Competitive Federal funding opportunities as well as corporations and foundations are expected to increase investments in job training activities linked with high-growth (high-growth) and high-demand (replacement jobs) industries, including allied health and nursing, health information technology, green and renewable energy technologies and information technology.

6. Maintain or increase investments in securing Federal grant funding.

Federal funding is expected to play an increased role in the growth and sustainability of community colleges. However, increased competition for Federal funding opportunities among community colleges is expected. Many programs of interest to community colleges were cut during the current legislative session. It is not known, but highly unlikely, if these programs will be funded at previous levels.

Fox Consulting, LLC, a fundraising consulting firm serving nonprofit organizations and education institutions in Minnesota, developed this set of recommendations to increase the productivity of community college fundraising programs. Recommendations are based on current and projected market trends affecting community college fundraising efforts.

Contact us to get started on your path to community college sustainability.

While tough economic times continue to force nonprofits to tighten their belts and compete for funds, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) has organizations abuzz about the opportunities available. However, if you’re like many others, you may feel overwhelmed just keeping track of the funding opportunities, not to mention the rules, regulations, forms, budgets, statements, and other hoops you and your organization must jump through just to apply for these grants and contracts.

Fox Consulting is here to guide you through the process of applying for federal funds, from planning a strategic and competitive approach, to articulating your case for support, to building a budget and work plan, to submitting a polished final project. Read more

When Scott Fletcher, director of the Aviation Maintenance program at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, called Fox Consulting last September and asked for immediate help applying for a federal grant, Kevin Fox didn’t hesitate. “Even though the deadline was less than two weeks away, we believed in the program and in the opportunities it would create for education, and ultimately jobs, in Northwestern Minnesota,” said Kevin, President of Fox Consulting.

The staff of Northland College and Fox Consulting worked nonstop to ensure that the best possible proposal was sent to the federal government on deadline.

Northland College received word in late February that the college has been awarded a three-year American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant for $4,996,844, which will be used to establish an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Maintenance Training Center in the college’s Aviation Maintenance Department. “This grant will position Northland Community and Technical College to be at the forefront of this developing industry along with our partners at the University of North Dakota and the Grand Forks Air Force Base,” said Dr. Anne Temte, president of NCTC.

Scott Fletcher, director of NCTC’s Aviation Maintenance Program, was thrilled with the news. “We are overwhelmed by the excellent opportunity ahead of us. The importance of this program, both to our region and our community, is immeasurable.

Fletcher said the grant application was completed by Fox Consulting of Minneapolis in just eight days in October 2009. “They really picked up the pace for us,” Fletcher said.” Read more