Mark Cleary: Degree of support that makes a big difference

The charity sector, of course, has an abundance of expertise in

overcoming this, assembling compelling cases about how money donated will change lives. How can universities compete with this?

When I look at what we at Bradford are hoping to achieve with our fundraising, it is every bit as compelling – scholarships for talented students who simply would not be able to enter into higher education otherwise; funding for students in war-torn and troubled countries whose education will not only radically change their own lives, but their extended families lives, too; hardship funds for those who truly cannot find the money to carry on; and academic projects in areas such as cancer research and conflict resolution.

In the US and Canada, alumni fundraising is firmly embedded, accepted as part of the university journey through life. Students understand that they will be a member of their university's community forever, and that this will include being asked for money when they have moved on to their working lives. There's no reluctance or discomfort, students expect to give something back to the institution which has been the launch pad for their life.

It is certainly a significant income stream for them. According to the Council for Aid to Education, in 2009, Stanford University raised

$640.1m, Harvard raised $601.6m and total donations in the sector reached $27.9bn through fundraising activity.

Here in the UK, we are still probably about 30 years behind North America, with a few big hitting universities leading the way, such as Oxford and Cambridge. According to the Ross-CASE survey for 2006-07, UK universities raised 548m from alumni, other supporters and charities.

The Government's introduction of the Matched Funding scheme, launched in 2008, has certainly helped UK universities make the case for philanthropic giving, and given a reason to get the conversation started now. If we take a donation of 50, for example, when you add Gift Aid for a UK taxpayer it becomes 62.50, then add 31.25 for Matched Funding, plus 1.60 for Transitional Relief, and the 50 nearly doubles to 95.35. An attractive prospect for both donor and fundraiser.

In Yorkshire, the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds are particularly strong. The University of Sheffield has been running an annual fund for seven years, raising over 1m from 7,500 individual donations, for student-orientated projects: more than 350 scholarships for gifted students from less well-off backgrounds; providing teaching, study and IT facilities and equipment for academic departments; and distributing over 150,000 of grants to student clubs, societies, welfare and volunteering projects.

I was asked why we had launched our first fundraising campaign in February this year, shortly after the HE sector learned of significant cuts to funding over the next five years and which were confirmed this week. In fact, our fundraising campaign had begun its planning stages two years ago, born from a desire to enable as many talented people as possible to enjoy a Bradford education, especially those from challenging or non-traditional backgrounds, and to give those that do study with us the best possible social, cultural and, of course, learning experience possible.

So, in truth, the funding cuts had no influence on our fundraising plans. We had anticipated the HEFCE cuts and we are already working to continue to grow our sustainable income streams – working with businesses, increasing part-time and postgraduate numbers, delivering outstanding research (last year we performed strongly in the Research Assessment Exercise, crucial as we are a research-active university), and, of course, growing our international student numbers.

The high number of international students, who make up 22 per cent of our student body, is one of the things that makes Bradford so special. And not only do we bring students from over 140 countries into Bradford itself, we also work with partners in countries such as Dubai,

Pakistan, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia to deliver a Bradford education around the world.

Indeed, it is important that our fundraising plans truly reflect our international profile. We have a strong record of attracting UK

students from non-traditional backgrounds, with the last recorded figures (2007-08) showing we had 18.5 per cent of our students coming from low participation neighbourhoods, compared to a sector average of 11.4 per cent, and 52.2 per cent of our students coming from low socio-economic groups, compared to a sector average of 35.9 per cent.

Through increasing our scholarships to overseas students, we hope to widen participation to people from all backgrounds across the world. We are also looking to develop other areas of fundraising, such as capital fundraising and legacies, as we seek to bring the greatest benefit to society.

A core principle for us is that philanthropic giving should benefit both parties – the fundraiser achieves something tangible, and the donor feels a great sense of satisfaction that their contribution will make an important difference, that their money will be spent wisely, and that the donation (no matter how big or small) is really valued.

And even the British should be happy to speak up about that.

Professor Mark Cleary is Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Bradford.