Capital campaign targets large donors

If there's anything that's expensive at Oberlin these days, it's talk.

For almost two years, development officers, deans and President Nancy Dye have been talking about money. Money with a capital "M."

The College's Capital Campaign, with an overall goal of $165 million by 2004, is the largest fund-raising campaign the College has undertaken in its history. The funds that are raised will go toward financial aid, faculty chairs and facilities into the next century.

As of April, the campaign had raised $58.4 million, which is also the target figure for the launching of the public phase of the campaign. The Board of Trustees will approve the public phase in their June meeting.

The campaign runs like a well-oiled machine. On any given day, some of the 16 development staff hired specifically for the campaign are traveling to major cities to meet with prospective donors. Director of Development Kay Thomson travels as well, often bringing Dye along to meet with particularly lucrative donors.

All the while, John Hayes, director of the campaign, oversees the production from his office in Bosworth Hall, keeping an eye on campaign numbers and coordinating the on-campus work of the campaign.

But viewing the campaign from Oberlin is like watching a play from backstage. The real audience - the real target - is sitting in boardrooms, college offices, law firms and living rooms around the country. They are the potential donors to the campaign fund.

So far the audience for the campaign has been small; in the first two years of the campaign, the fund raisers are focusing on a core group of donors - called the nucleus - who campaign organizers have identified as potentially large donors. Right now the nucleus includes 58 donors, many of whom are alumni and trustees.

As the campaign continues and as fundraisers target a broader audience, they will use the endorsements and gifts of the initial nucleus group to encourage other gifts.

An example of this technique is January's splashy announcement that Tom Klutznick, OC '63 and one of the three chairs of the campaign, donated $5 million to the campaign. With stories of the donation appearing in regional and national media, the gift drew attention to Oberlin and the campaign. The College is seeking additional ways to attract this sort of attention by pushing publicity about the science center and the college itself.

Besides publicity, the campaign is relying on Oberlin's tight-knit web of alumni and friends. They are organizing events in major U.S. cities to reacquaint alumni with Oberlin and "water the nostalgia plant," as Thompson said.

According to Thompson, one effective way to water that particular plant is to offer lunch lectures - semi-formal talks by Oberlin faculty in major cities - aimed at reminding alumni of the college experience.

Thomas Van Nortwick, professor of classics, and Len Smith, associate professor of history, have both conducted talks. Van Nortwick spoke in Boston last fall of his interest in contemporary productions of ancient Greek drama, while Smith spoke in New York and Washington, D.C. about teaching World War II. Van Nortwick said he enjoyed giving his talk because alumni are a receptive and curious audience. "I felt it was a very friendly atmosphere because everyone there had an intense interest in Oberlin," he said. Smith shared Van Nortwick's enthusiasm, saying he is eager to do another talk if he is asked. Both presenters understood the talks to be a way to strengthen and update alumni's connections with Oberlin

"My understanding of the objective was to give people a more nuts-and-bolts idea of what goes on in college," Smith said. "It is about mobilizing general interest in the College."

Another way the College is mobilizing interest, and presumably money, is through propaganda. Yes, it is safe to call the shiny brochures and flowery prose coming out of the campaign office propaganda.

The first book to come out is on the new science center. Produced in January, the book includes fold-out maps of the designs, text describing Oberlin's science programs and the challenges facing science education, and the usual photos of student-faculty interactions.

Donors are also told about potential levels of support; suggested gifts range from $25,000 to $15 million. All givers who commit to more than $50,000 are promised a "plaque that will be displayed in a prominent place in the new center."

The science center book is just one part of a larger propaganda machine that will be held together with the campaign case statement, a "viewbook" aimed at potentially generous donors. The case statement will describe the goals the College will be able to achieve with the funds it is raising.

The goals, as set out in other campaign literature, focus on the need to increase funding of scholarships, faculty and facilities. The goals also mention the need to improve the level of annual giving.

Joe Carr, of Joe Carr and Associates, is a consultant who has designed case statements for campaigns at a range of colleges, universities and private schools. He was hired by Oberlin in the fall to develop a case statement for the Oberlin campaign.

Carr has visited Oberlin to talk to administrators and faculty and has met with trustees and alumni. He will write the viewbook that will outline the major themes and goals of the campaign.

Without doubt, the book will reflect what the Oberlin administrators and trustees want it to: it will be diverse, it will show professors dedicated to undergraduate teaching and student research, there will be a vibrant cultural life and students will be inquisitive and interesting.

These are the kinds of goals and images campaign organizers have agreed on. But they are goals that are - at the same time - controversial among faculty, staff and student at Oberlin. As one staffer involved in the campaign said, "[The case statement] can be a very political thing."

In other words, who decides what exactly we are selling here at Oberlin? And when people donate to Oberlin, what do they think they are supporting?

It is certain that when Oberlin produces its case statement, the message will be clear: give us money.