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Higher education must get creative or crumble

Fundraising | Adrian Beney | 12 May 2010

Higher education could be facing a difficult funding future. Institutions must get creative with their fundraising or face the dwindling resources, says Adrian Beney.

Higher Education is clearly in the firing line for a very close look at its costs. This was already the case before the election. It would be surprising if public funding for the arts did not come under scrutiny as well. Similarly for national institutions like the big museums, national research institutes and so on.

So the big question is this: will the response be to try to fill the gap with fundraising, or will the response be to cut fundraising budgets, or both at the same time.

It's a hard one to call, and of course the most likely scenario is that there will be a variety of responses from different institutions.  But filling a hole caused by public funding cuts is the hardest thing for which to raise money.  A creative response will be needed: one which looks less at the cost of operating the organisation, and more at the outputs from the organisation.

One thing universities have never done is to attempt to mobilise their alumni politically. The Times Higher Education magazine is currently running a  "love Higher Education" campaign, trying to get people to articulate the stories about the impact higher eductaion has on the country and the wider world. I would argue that this campaign should be taken to the alumni. There are votes in student fees, and really there should be also in the health and funding of our whole higher ed system, especially when you look at the origins of the intellectual and scientific advances that have been made in the last 30 years or so.

From the donor's point of view, I am encouraged that the Tories were already before the election talking about tax reform for charitable giving. I remain deeply suspicous of the Gift Aid reforms for which Institute of Fundraising are arguing, but I do think we need to make it even easier for people to give away assets. This is the one area where we lag significantly behind the US, although the numbers produced recently, around which Joe Saxton and I clashed, were hopelessly over-optimistic.  

I really hope they take some brave and "liberal" decisions on charitable giving, to reduce regulation and encourage people to give.

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Directory: Institute of Fundraising
Who's Who: Joe Saxton