Cuts make fund raising necessary
UC departments say private donations are tantamount
By Michael Angell
UCLA Italian professors, graduate students and administrators
sat around a large conference table in Murphy Hall eagerly
anticipating the ceremony. Their attention was focused on the man
at the head of the table: a tanned, nattily-dressed executive from
the Italian Television and Radio company, RAI.
Professor Luigi Ballerini praised the executive’s soccer skills,
pool playing talents and running ability. After basking in
Ballerini’s ample praise, executive Umberto Bonnetti, smiled,
lauded UCLA and handed over a check for $250,000.
Events similar to this are becoming increasingly common at UCLA
as private support takes on a more important role in university
funding. While private donations represent only five percent of the
University of California’s operating budget, outside fundraising is
helping UCLA and the other UC schools pay for new classes, research
and capital improvements.
UCLA raised $110.1 million in private support during 1994-95, a
16 percent jump over last year. Private fundraising has brought
several big ticket items to the UCLA campus such as the former
Westwood Playhouse, now named after donor David Geffen. Geffen
contributed $5 million to the purchase of the theater.
A more humble gift was the Italian company’s donation, which
created the RAI Chair in Italian Film, Literature and Television,
which will fund a new class in Italian film and culture. Donations
like these have helped revitalize flagging departments and increase
educational opportunities.
Ballerini, a former chair of the Italian Department, said the
"financial and intellectual state of the department was weak" when
he took over six years ago. But through private donations of money
and materials, the department has improved. Ballerini said personal
appeals are more effective than more anonymous fundraisers.
"If you want to have effective fundraising, you must stimulate
the donor," Ballerini said."I must seduce them into my
project."
Asked if fundraising ever cuts into his teaching
responsibilities, Ballerini admitted that "to an extent it does."
He would much rather teach than raise funds yet his efforts have
brought in "$400,000 to $500,000 in money and equipment." for the
department.
For their part, donors only receive the prestige of having their
name attached to a university project. UCLA maintains its autonomy
when it receives corporate donations, said Dave Wilson, assistant
dean of humanities.
"When corporations donate, their say is limited," said Wilson,
who works with UCLA fundraising. "(The) syllabus is determined by
the teacher."The biggest magnet for private funds is medical
research. Among other gifts, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor
Foundation gave UCLA gifts totaling $3.1 million to support a new
women’s health center last year.
Dr. Lawrence Bassett, who works at the center, said the facility
has been able to serve 11,000 women a year since 1986 because of
private support.
"(Iris Cantor) has made momentous contributions to women’s
health," Bassett said. "We would not have been able to provide any
of the services we do today without her help."
In the College of Letters and Science, life and physical
sciences are particularly big fundraisers. Judy Rapp-Smith,
vice-provost for development, said that the sciences "have more
opportunity for fundraising because projects are more visible and
there are more sources."
Along with the help of faculty solicitors, the Development
Department, which is a euphemism for fundraising, raised $12
million for the College of Letters and Science. Deans and provosts
of the different departments approach Rapp-Smith with projects that
need funding.
"We do a lot of research to find out funding opportunities they
like to give to," Rapp-Smith said. "We go over a lot of printed
material. With individual donors, it’s a matter of getting to know
them and finding out their interests."
Rapp-Smith’s job and the development office’s role is expected
to take on more and more significance as public funds for higher
education become scarcer.
After accepting the Italian company’s donation, assistant vice
chancellor James Osterholt emphasized the increasing importance of
private funding.
"Private support is of increasing significance," Osterholt said.
"This check is a bellwether of the new way institutions raise
money."Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu