of development and college
relations at Rhode Island College.
Name: Marguerite Brown
Position: Vice President of Development and College Relations at Rhode
Island College, and Executive Director of the Rhode Island College Foundation.
Age: 55
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Background: Brown came to Rhode Island College from the University
of Rhode Island in 1995, where she had worked for 11 years. In 1986, Brown became
Director of Corporate Foundation Relations for URI, and helped to coordinate
the university’s first capital campaign. In 1997, Brown authored a chapter for
a book about how managing foundations for public institutions, published by
the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Prior to entering
higher education, Brown worked for 14 years as an English teacher at St. Mary
Academy, Bay View high school and at a high school in Maine.
Education: B.A, Wilson College, 1968; master’s degree in public administration,
University of Rhode Island, 1991; Ph.D. in higher education administration,
University of Connecticut, 1995.
Residence: Smithfield
Recently, Rhode Island College launched its first capital campaign, to coincide
with the college’s 150th anniversary next year. During Brown’s tenure, the Rhode
Island College Foundation has experienced a 143 percent increase of endowed
and operating funds, a 78 percent increase in scholarship disbursement and a
270 percent growth in the market value of permanently restricted endowments.
Recently, RIC launched its first capital campaign, to coincide with the college’s
150th anniversary next year. The capital campaign has currently raised $18.4
million in gifts and pledges.
PBN: What are the specific goals of RIC’s capital campaign, and then in
broader terms, when you talk about raising the profile of the college, what
do you envision there?
BROWN: The goal of the campaign is $25 million. That sounds very modest
when you compare it to the billion dollar campaigns that are out there in higher
education. For us it is a leap, it’s a large goal. It’s focused mostly on enhancing
the endowment for the traditional points that come to mind – student scholarships,
faculty development, support for student services, athletics. And I mention
athletics because it’s a key part of the campaign, but I don’t want people to
get the impression it’s like a Division 1 athletic campaign. We don’t have scholarships
for athletes, we’re raising funds to support academic programs for scholar athletes
and to enhance our facilities. Another component of the campaign is some building
we’re doing on campus. This campaign is about building the platform for the
next crowd. In my opinion, we’re doing things that will position the college
for the next time. Because as you know, capital campaigns never end, they simply
change focus. (Laughs.) Once you start, you’re in a campaign mode always. So
we’ve just been on an incredible roll because of the response we’ve gotten.
People have responded by opening up their wallets?
They have. And when I came here in 1995, a $10,000 gift was cause for dancing down the hallway – it wasn’t usual. Now, I’m happy to say in some ways that the larger gifts are coming in – twenty five, sixty, one hundred thousand, three quarters of a million – and it’s almost as though we’ve become accustomed to that. Now, the one side of that is, ‘Wow.’ You know, this is like a big gift. But the other side of that is, we’ve obviously raised expectations, and when those large gifts are coming in, the culture now thinks – not that it’s expected, but it’s not the same kind of thing. In the early 1990’s, when I worked at URI, URI got its first $1 million gift. The first one ever for a public institution, and the governor declared a day of celebration, and we honored that $1-million donor at the State House. And I remember my boss came back and said, ‘You know what Peg? You won’t even find the next $1-million gift to a public institution on the front page.’ And you know what? He was right. Because in this 10-year time period, we have just accepted that that kind of support for public institutions is going to happen. It’s a new phenomenon. The culture’s changed in terms of people’s expectations. That’s a good thing.
RIC is, fairly or not, is often overshadowed by URI in public higher education
in Rhode Island. Is that an obstacle for you, or a selling point, or do you
not acknowledge that in trying to sell the college to financial donors?
Whenever the president of this college is on television or in front of the Legislature, he talks about public higher education. We are a system. We are not in competition with URI, we have an entirely different mission. The university is a research-based institution. They are the flagship institution of this state for research, and they have pockets, as you know, of tremendously advanced – well, oceanography, the new biotech center, whatever. RIC is about teaching. We are about individuals coming into the classroom and being taught every day by full professors, assistant professors, associate professors. While we support research, it’s not the most important thing we do. The most important thing we do is teach. CCRI is the point of entry. They have open admission. Our mission is, if you are qualified, and you want a college education, it’s our job to see that you get one. We are less expensive than URI, 90 percent of our students commute. So stepchild, no. Do we live in the shadow of the university? Certainly. Have we always been clear in the three institutions about our separate missions and the roles we play? No. Are we getting better about telling the story? Absolutely.
Let me on the inside of your job. Tell me how you get somebody to give
a $1-million gift – what’s that conversation like?
(Laughs.) Well first of all, people usually say, ‘How can you ask for
money? Isn’t that like the second oldest profession?’ Now this is going to sound
a little trite and maybe even a little sappy. The truth is, people want to give
gifts for a variety of reasons. People say, ‘Oh, people give gifts for tax benefits.’
They do give gifts for tax benefits – it’s absolutely the last reason on the
list. It’s about giving back. It’s about achieving a certain amount of immortality.
It’s about honoring somebody in their family who made it possible for them to
be where they are today. So when you say, ‘How do you ask people?’ People usually
have something in mind already. My role, and I honestly believe this, is to
work for them to figure out what is the best way to make a gift that achieves
their goal and is appropriate for their family circumstances. Do I try to get
them to raise their sights? Absolutely. I try to point out to them: “You think
maybe you can present a $50,000 gift. Let me present some options for you where
you might be able to give a larger gift and still achieve your goals, and still
respect what your family, your children, your grandchildren are going to need.”
I see myself as a facilitator, a technician.
I think I’m a good listener. You cannot raise money if you don’t establish
a genuine relationship – it just doesn’t happen. You’ve probably heard that
saying ‘people do not give money to institutions,’ and they don’t. They give
money to people who they trust, who they want to be associated with, who they
respect. So I don’t have trouble asking for money. I don’t feel like I’m doing
something unseemly. I honestly believe I’m helping them achieve some of their
life goals.
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