The Game of Fundraising: Faculties May Join Forces

The big money's on Harvard.

At least, that's what University administrators are hoping as they plan what could be Harvard's--and higher education's--largest fund drive ever.

Over the next few weeks, the University's top brass are slated to hold a series of meetings to determine the form of the proposed fundraising campaign. Their decisions will likely set the course for Harvard well into the next decade.

Although the goal has not yet been finalized, sources say that it will exceed the $1.1 billion stash Stanford hopes to net as part of its current five-year drive. Some inside observers have placed the Harvard figure at as high as $2 billion.

Ironically, Harvard finished its most ambitious fundraising effort--the 350th anniversary campaign--just three years ago, promising alums that it would be enough to lay the foundation for the University at least until the end of the century.

But now Harvard's development officers have changed their tune and are pushing for a mammoth University-wide effort that would be the first time all of Harvard's nine faculties have joined together in raising funds.

Infighting among the faculties, however, threatens to derail the plan, as the schools are divided about the best way for each to raise money.

Harvard's time-honored philosophy has been one of "every tub on its own bottom," an operating principle which stresses decentralization in fundraising efforts. The University's bigger and more prestigious faculties--the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Law School and the Business School--have traditionally benefitted from these individual drives, drawing on extensive alumni networks to yield large donations.

In the current dispute, officials from those schools have generally come out against a Harvard-wide drive, according to sources.

But many of the smaller schools support the idea of an all-inclusive University campaign, finding their efforts unsuccessful compared to the multimillion dollar drives run by the larger and better-known professional schools.

"We have a relatively hard time raising money from alums," says one Graduate School of Design official.

Though the dispute--which cuts to the heart of how Harvard is organized--is not an easy one to resolve, development officials all agree that it must be resolved soon.

Almost all of the Harvard schools have planned individual fund drives which have-been put on hold until the decision about a comprehensive effort is reached.

But the quest for dollars can't wait.