Case Study
University of New South Wales Sydney
Onsite Philanthropy Training
Published: March 2018
Background
University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney is one of Australia’s leading research and teaching universities. The university’s teaching gains strength and currency from its research activities, strong industry links and international nature. Additionally, UNSW has a strong regional and global engagement.
The UNSW Sydney Division of Philanthropy is a relatively new department, having recently grown from 60 to more than 100 team members. With new staff and a fundraising campaign planned for the near future, there was a significant need for training in the area of philanthropy; specifically how each person’s plays a role in the broader picture of fundraising and a campaign, and enhancing culture while building team. Angela Barton, Executive Director of Campaign Operations, hired KDD Philanthropy to facilitate a five-day training for the Division of Philanthropy staff.
Process of Working with KDD Philanthropy
Angela and Kathy Drucquer Duff began working together in fall 2017 to create a week-long training for Division of Philanthropy executive directors and staff. The challenging part of the training was covering the right information for every team member, and to ensure it held their interest for five full days.
Kathy put together a comprehensive agenda for the on-site training that took place in February 2018. Some of the topics included: trends in philanthropy; crafting a meaningful case for support; achieving buy-in from academic and industry partners; effective tools for staffing academic leadership; engagement of boards/advisory councils and key volunteers; building synergies; donor and alumni relations; engaging with parents as volunteers and donors; and a host of fundraising essentials topics. In addition to presentations, several exercises and group chats were used to ensure learning encompassed a variety of styles. Participants were engaged in a variety of ways, and several members expressed it was the first time they were able to connect the dots to how every role supported the larger philanthropy/engagement vision.
Angela had extremely positive things to say about working with Kathy:
The staff absolutely loved Kathy and found the information extremely relevant. Every day she was energetic and enthusiastic.
She was also very receptive to feedback, and her willingness to incorporate that feedback into the next session. We appreciated how she was fluid in the way she presented the material and adapted to our staff.
Angela was pleased that Kathy was able to create a learning experience that resonated to diverse audience in Australia. This geographic difference has been an issue with previous consultants coming from the United States.
It can be difficult to adjust the language and presentation content to go from an American perspective to an Australian one. But Kathy worked very hard on ensuring her work was authentically Australian and it fit perfectly with our university.
Results
While UNSW is still in the beginning stages of its philanthropic efforts, Kathy’s work with is already having an impact. Angela said Kathy made a big impact on the staff, and they started using her ideas right away.
What makes Kathy unique is her breadth of experience across all areas of philanthropy. She was able to relate to all of the team members because she’s done all their jobs. She was the perfect person to help us and we hope to engage her again in the future.