In academia, year-to-year fundraising usually means soliciting gifts from alumni or holding special events. But when colleges and universities break the mold by telling their stories and seeking to expand their donor bases, they are inevitably surprised at the results. This week we talked in-depth with two colleges—Schreiner University, a private liberal arts school in Kerrville, Texas, and Arizona Western College, a community college in Yuma, Arizona—about their success using the Benevon Model.

Schreiner University
Kerrville, Texas

Schreiner University, a small school of 842 students in the Texas Hill Country, boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of thirteen to one and is the kind of place where everyone, from the janitors to faculty, gets to know the students.

The university was founded in 1923 by former Texas Ranger Captain Charles Schreiner, who wanted to start a military academy so that the young boys of Kerr County wouldn't have to leave home for an education. Schreiner wanted the school linked to the Presbyterian church because he liked the values of the church, although the Christian-based school opens its doors to students of all faiths. In 1981, the school converted to a four-year private liberal arts school.

Like many colleges and universities, Schreiner University's development office has focused on alumni (mainly through direct mail and phone-a-thons) to raise money. Occasionally, the school would also hold special events. Last fall, the school was even planning to have a rubber ducky race down the Guadalupe River. The race, while fun, was labor-intensive for the amount of money expected: $10,000–$15,000. The development office, faced with raising $1.7 million each year, realized it needed to find a lasting solution. The school announced ambitious plans to increase student enrollment to 1,200 by 2010 and to increase its endowment from $40 million to $100 million by 2013, and they needed a fundraising system that could help them reach these goals.

Mignonne Frantzen, the director of development, went to a Benevon Introductory Session in February of 2004 with four of her staff and liked the system but needed buy-in from other staff. She later took nine others to a session in Austin, but she still couldn't get anyone to agree that the cost of the Benevon 101 Workshop was justified. So she hosted a Benevon Introductory Session on the Schreiner campus. The session inspired a former board of trustees member to donate $8,500 plus travel expenses for a team to attend a Benevon 101 Workshop that fall.

After the workshop, the development staff abandoned plans for the rubber ducky race and put all their effort into preparing for a fundraising Ask Event^™ in May.

"When we found [Benevon], it seemed to fit nicely with our goals of making sure everyone was saying the same thing about Schreiner University and getting the word out into the community," said Frantzen.

After a few trial Point of Entry^® Events, they decided to feature student testimonials, followed by guests touring the campus on a golf cart. They held the tours twice a month. With the introductory events, they busted the myth that Schreiner is an expensive school and that the students who attend are all rich.

They held their Ask Event luncheon May 3, just days before graduation, and it was a great success. They raised $175,000 in gifts and pledges from 207 guests. Frantzen said approximately 90% of the guests didn't attend the school or have a child who attended.

Frantzen said the Ask Event really brought home the message that people who attend the school go on to great places. Three successful alumni stories were laid out on each table—an assistant district attorney, a research and development scientist for a pharmaceutical company, and a minister. A student gave the testimonial. The Schreiner choir, which had just returned from a performance at Carnegie Hall, sang while people ate.

Frantzen said their costs in holding the event totaled $5,000 (not including the workshop)—a great return on their investment.

Frantzen is convinced that relationship building is the key to any nonprofit. "I believe if all the nonprofits in Kerr County used this (model) we'd all be better off because we'd be targeting people who really care about us."

Frantzen said she'd even be a Table Captain for other nonprofits to prove how much she supports them using this model. "This model creates donors who understand what they are giving to," she said.

For more on Schreiner University, visit their Web site.

Arizona Western College
Yuma, Arizona

Arizona Western College in Yuma, Arizona, is a community college that serves 12,000 students of all ages—39% of the students are under twenty-four, 49% are between twenty-five and forty-nine, and 20% are fifty and over. In partnership with Northern Arizona University (also in Yuma), the school offers more than eighty degrees and certification programs and over twenty bachelor's and master's programs; the most popular include nursing, radiology technology, welding, teacher education, and administration of justice.

Last year, the Arizona Western College Foundation completed a $10 million capital campaign in addition to the community supporting a $73.85 million facilities bond. The Foundation staff wanted to be careful about how to approach the community again for funds but knew that generating more support was necessary to position the school to grow to the next level and reach out to more students who never thought college was a possibility.

Ginger Green, the executive director at the Arizona Western College Foundation, said she was looking around the Internet when she came upon the Benevon Web site. She was drawn to the idea of the systematic fundraising process, so she bought the library of fundraising material from Benevon and had her leadership team watch the online introductory session.

A six-member team—she and five board members—went to a two-day Benevon 101 Workshop in November, 2004. After the workshop, Green said they really didn't have a specific fundraising goal in mind, but thought if they raised $50,000 they would be happy.

"We live in a very small but giving community here," said Green, but added, "we really weren't sure if it (the model) was going to work."

The Foundation held a Point of Entry Event every week for eight weeks straight, and had 250 people signed up to attend their fundraising Ask Event. In the end, 200 people attended the Ask Event, and the college raised $135,000 in gifts and pledges. "I was pleasantly surprised," said Green. "You know it's possible, but you wonder if it's probable."

Green said the Ask Event spotlighted students who initially thought college was out of reach for them, including a forty-two-year-old dad who was finishing a degree in emergency medical training and a prominent local doctor, who once worked in the agriculture fields located just down the hill from the college.

Green said that there is a significant need for financial assistance in the community, due to a high unemployment rate coupled with the lowest average hourly salary in the state. With the newly raised money, Green said the college is going to increase the number of scholarships.

"We want to remove any obstacle that our students might have," she said. "Little by little, we are changing lives and changing our community by raising expectations that college is possible for anyone who wants to go."

Green said what she likes about the Benevon Model is that it takes the fear out of fundraising. "It does take a lot of hard work, but you know from the beginning what the expectations are, what the requirements are, and what the outcomes are," she said. "There's no time wasted on trial and error."

For more on Arizona Western College, visit their Web site.