University to train fundraising professionals

Press release issued: 10 June 2009

The University is one of 12 UK universities to offer a new three-year graduate-trainee programme aimed at increasing the number of fundraising professionals working in higher education. The programme, which is funded by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Europe and the Higher Education Funding Council for Europe (HEFCE), is due to start in August.

Trainees, who will start on a basic salary of £18,000, will be guided through at least three areas of fundraising development activity in their first year. These will include donor relations, prospect research, and implementing strategies to secure financial support.

The other universities participating in the programme are Loughborough, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford and University College London. Each of the six will be paired with another institution where fundraising activities are newer, and where the interns will undertake a one-month secondment. Bristol's partner is the University of the West of England.

Speaking about the programme, Tania Jane Rawlinson, Director of Campaigns and Alumni Relations at the University, said:

'Bristol has a thriving fundraising team which constantly seeks to improve through training and experimentation. It is both exciting, and a natural next step, for us to participate in the CASE graduate-trainee programme. With Bristol's £100m Centenary Campaign in full swing, our graduate trainee will have a tremendous opportunity to encourage and support giving to Bristol. Thus the trainee will help drive more resource into important fields such as medical advances using stem cells, climate change, need-based bursaries and more.'

CASE Vice President for International Operations Joanna Motion added:

'The aim of this programme is to develop high-calibre fundraising professionals in the higher education sector, in a sense to grow our own fundraisers specific to the sector. We want to raise the profile of fundraising so it becomes an attractive career option for talented people, and this is particularly important in the current economic climate where graduates need to be aware of all the opportunities available to them. The long-term benefits to the HE sector are likely to be widely felt, with a further 24 universities becoming involved in years two and three of the scheme.'

Further information

Established with a £100,000 donation from Bristol businessman and philanthropist Henry Overton Wills in 1909, the University of Bristol has long benefited from philanthropy. Generous support over the last 100 years has helped establish the University as a world-class institution, leading the field in a number of key areas, despite its comparative youthfulness.
The University is marking its centenary year with a Campaign to raise £100m in six key areas by the end of 2014. So far £45m has been pledged or received.
The University's Annual Giving programme is up over 20 per cent so far this year compared to the same time last year, making it second only to Oxbridge in the Russell Group of UK universities in terms of the percentage of alumni who give and the amount they donate.

Please contact Dara O'Hare for further information.