By Mary Anna Dunn
Campaign Director
Fundraising consultants from Barnes & Roche came to campus to interview two dozen people this past spring to prepare for a campaign feasibility study. Their report, issued in June, recommended that Fresno State delay doing feasibility interviews but commence campaigning.

These recommendations may seem contradictory, but we are taking the advice. John P. Butler, president of Barnes & Roche, strongly endorsed Fresno State’s intention to conduct the comprehensive campaign. At the same time, he detailed a number of preparatory steps that need to be taken. According to Butler, it is not unusual for a university to begin campaigning while still completing preparations. That is our situation here.

The rationale for not doing the feasibility study now, Butler said, is that the outcome of the study should be “a Good Housekeeping seal of approval.” The study consists of personal interviews with potential volunteers and donors. Barnes & Roche found that knowledge about the university’s vision and intentions needed to be more widespread and better understood to be confident of positive responses. Thus, some of the remaining preparation is to hone and disseminate the vision.  (See the Campaign themes article on this page.)

Additional steps for 2005-2006 include aligning campaign projects with the strategic plan, identifying prospective major donors, recruiting and mobilizing the Campaign Steering Committee (volunteers), and launching the Campaign Operations Committee (university representatives). The development office also will be hiring staff and integrating gift records and activities with Athletics. University Communications will continue to refine the case statement, which will remain in draft form for as long as two more years. Meantime, they will be working with campus departments to create “mini-cases” for particular campaign projects. 

While these and other preparations are going on, the campaign clock is running.  We began counting on July 1, and fundraising is intensifying.