Capital Campaign and Centennial Celebration
Case Study of Ellie’s work while employed at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Organization: Harvard School of Public Health
One of 10 schools at Harvard University, this 107-year old institution has nearly 500 faculty, 1000 students receiving masters and doctoral degrees, and a yearly budget of approximately $300 million. Some of the most important discoveries in public health originated at the school: research that led to development of a polio vaccine; discoveries that lowered rates of heart disease and certain cancers; creation of the “Designated Driver” campaign which inspired declines in drinking and driving fatalities; and many more.
The Challenge
As Harvard University planned to embark on a $7 billion campaign, the School’s leadership needed to identify its funding priorities and develop a more cohesive, memorable, and exciting way to attract new major and principle gift donors to meet its $450 million portion of the overall campaign goal.
Philanthropic interest in public health at Harvard and globally had been traditionally dwarfed by donors’ attraction to medicine, biotech, and engineering. While the school has a large basic and applied science footprint and is the second highest recipient of NIH funding at the University, its focus on prevention rather than individual patient care means it does not have a “grateful patient” donor base. Alumni pursue careers in government, NGOs, and non-profits, meaning they earn far less than alumni from Harvard’s medical, business and law schools, which limits the School’s pool of wealthy alumni prospects.
While the School focuses on some of the most pressing social challenges of our time -- soaring healthcare costs, gun violence, escalating rates of certain cancers and diabetes, infectious pandemics – the breadth of issues it addresses can be challenging to convey in a concise and cohesive way.
Led by Dean Julio Frenk and equipped with deft political skills, Ellie, the Vice Dean of External Relations at the time with her team interviewed more than 20 faculty members, compiled a vast spreadsheet of funding needs and desires, and worked with the Deans to shape those into a comprehensive list of funding priorities at different giving levels based on the actual costs of doing the identified activities. Simultaneously, Ellie and her team began the daunting process of identifying potential major and principal gift prospects, building a campaign volunteer structure, hiring fundraising staff, raising a nucleus fund, and planning for a formal campaign launch.
The School’s 100th anniversary fortuitously coincided with the year that Harvard was launching its public campaign phase. Taking full advantage of this opportunity and the Dean’s reach in the global health community, Ellie and her team imagined an elaborate two-day 100th anniversary celebration and campaign launch that would bring together alumni, donors, and very high-profile individuals from politics, business, and international public health to recognize the School’s accomplishments and convey the school’s ambitious goals for the future.
Equally important and guided by the Dean’s vision, Ellie and her team worked in collaboration with an outside communications consultant to develop a new tagline and four campaign themes to convey the School’s aspirations in a compelling, cohesive way. Those themes ultimately focused on four global public health threats the School is solving -- rather than on classic, institution-serving funding needs (research, financial aid, buildings). The themes were developed to create a compelling case. AND to ensure, that every faculty member could see his or her work encompassed in the campaign goals. The tagline: Powerful Ideas for a Healthier World. The Four Global Public Health Threats: Old and New Pandemics; Failing Health Systems; Harmful Physical and Social Environments; Poverty and Humanitarian Crises.
The campaign launched with a nucleus fund over $100 million at a two-day event that included awarding of Centennial Medals at a packed daytime event; a gala dinner spectacular; and a daytime symposium the next day on key public health issues the campaign would be addressing. Centennial Medals were presented to President Bill Clinton, World Bank President Jim Kim, and Norway Prime Minister and alum Gro Harlem Brundtland. Chelsea Clinton was honored with the School’s Next Generation Award. At the gala dinner, Bill and Melinda Gates and Elton John were among the celebrities who conveyed videotaped 100th anniversary greetings. U2’s Bono and Edge sang a special Happy Birthday written especially for the School in a videotaped conclusion to the evening’s event. Unlike anything the School had ever done before, proceeds that night netted $1 million through ticket sales and a 100th anniversary commemorative program book sporting ads that cost between $10,000 and $100,00 each.
An alumnus overwhelmed by the emotions and excitement generated by the events expressed interest in making a gift to name the School during the festivities. Within months, a $350 million pledge to rename the School the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health was announced.
Videos of the campaign launch event can be seen here.
The campaign itself raised over $900 million.