ANNUAL REPORT ON GIVING - Thunderbird Magazine ...

Alumni affinity
Alumni donations vary greatly from school to school
School Business School Alumni Mean
Endowment Giving Rate Alumni Gift
2005-06 2005-06
Harvard $2.8 billion 29.0% $4,089
Yale $575 million 49.0% $7,414
Stanford $982 million 37.0%
Texas (McCombs) $229 million 7.4% $1,393
MIT (Sloan) $657 million 28.0% $1,812
Columbia $415 million 25.0% $5,311
Cal - Berkeley (Haas) $208 million 19.2% $1,399
Penn (Wharton) $691 million 19.0% n/d
Northwestern (Kellogg) $728 million 19.0% n/d
Duke (Fuqua) $214 million 16.0% $2,788
Dartmouth (Tuck) $261 million 64.8% $912
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) n/d 24.0% n/d
ASU (Carey) $81 million 15.4% $332
Thunderbird $20 million 16.0% $548
Source: BusinessWeek, Nov. 21, 2007 n/d = No Data Listed
for the school and its mission, Trustee Barbara
Barrett and her husband, Dr. Craig Barrett,
pledged $5 million, bringing the total commitments
thus far to $18 million. The couple also
agreed to serve as chairs of the campaign.
As campaign chairs, the Barretts will rally
the Thunderbird trustees, faculty, staff, students,
alumni and other supporters of the
school. Over the next three years, they will
work closely with President Cabrera and
Thunderbird Chief Development Officer
Joan Neice to realize the goal.
Cabrera says the school is fortunate to have
such notable Arizonans leading the charge for
Campaign Thunderbird. “The Barretts represent
Thunderbird’s core values. They are global
citizens, international business leaders and
diplomats who strive to make the world a better
place through business and education.”
In just a few short months, Campaign
Thunderbird has received a groundswell of
support as Cabrera and the development team
have crisscrossed the world meeting with
board members and alumni to win their support.
The figure of $65 million that Campaign
Thunderbird seeks to raise was determined by
the needs and goals outlined in Thunderbird
2010. It’s expected that the campaign will be
fulfilled through a combination of outright
gifts, multiyear pledges and payments, and de-
ferred or planned gifts, which will come from
alumni, faculty, students, staff, trustees, corporate
clients, foundations and other supporters
of Thunderbird. The school also plans to
pump in $15 million from the sale of Thunderbird’s
vacant land, which ultimately will give
the school $80 million to invest.
Thunderbird’s Development Office has set
2011 as the deadline by which all commitments
must be made for Campaign Thunderbird.
“This campaign is larger and has a more aggressive
timeline than any previous fundraising
effort,” Neice says. “The early gifts to the
campaign are setting the pace and inspiring
others to give to Thunderbird in support of its
mission, vision and future. Building the
school’s endowment and funding key initiatives
are intended to strengthen Thunderbird’s
position in the MBA marketplace worldwide.
This is an important moment in our history
and requires the entire Thunderbird community
to rally around the school. ”
Now is the time
Cabrera says having early commitments
from board members such as the Barretts represents
a show of support that will help build
momentum as the campaign unfolds.
The time is right for Campaign Thunderbird,
Cabrera says, because after years of struggle
Thunderbird is finally in a position to
grow. It will use the donations not to simply
sustain the school, but to invest in ways that
secure the school’s long-term competitive advantage.
“Thunderbird is on solid ground,” Cabrera
says. “We’ve diversified our portfolio with
new degree and non-degree programs, we’ve
expanded our global presence, we’ve raised the
school’s global profile, we’ve added some significant
corporate clients, we continue to receive
stellar reviews by international publications
for the quality of our education, costs are
under control, and applications and enrollment
are up in virtually all programs. We’re
ready to grow in every way.”
In order to realize that growth, Campaign
Thunderbird will infuse $40 million into the
school’s endowment for scholarships, research,
chairs and professorships. The current
endowment is approximately $23 million.
Compared with other top schools, that
amount is relatively low and does not provide
sufficient earnings to fully support the school’s
mission and vision as outlined in its strategic
plan, Thunderbird 2010.
“The key to achieving and surpassing our
campaign goal must be deep involvement
20 spring 2008