​Colleges are competing for a lot of things: funding, students, recognition and good publicity, to name a few.

One way they can try to attain these things is by attracting and featuring high-profile speakers to help reach the audiences they need to address.

Speakers who are household names—or who are at least well-known by many people or have achieved a notable feat—can help community colleges immensely with fundraising efforts by bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such speakers can include entertainers, athletes, politicians or other types of celebrities.

How can colleges entice big names to attend or headline campus events? It’s not always easy, particularly for smaller or rural colleges. But with the right strategy, institutions can attract people with the star power to make a significant financial difference. And that’s especially important at a time when many community colleges are seeing reduced support from state governments.

High-profile draws

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Cleveland has drawn a number of luminaries to its speaking events, including former U.S. Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, news broadcaster Tom Brokaw and TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Each fall, the Cuyahoga Community College Foundation hosts the Presidential Scholarship Luncheon, which raises critically needed funds for scholarships for Tri-C students. At the most recent luncheon in October, the college featured former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who spoke to community and business leaders.

The luncheon was established in 1992 at the inauguration of Jerry Sue Thornton as president of the college, said Gloria Moosmann, vice president of resource development at the college’s foundation.

“The luncheon provides funding for students who might not otherwise be able to begin or continue their education at the college,” Moosmann said.

As the largest community college in Ohio, Tri-C’s needs for student scholarship support are great, she said. The event brings together more than 1,200 members of the community each year, including business and community leaders. It showcases the college and its mission and features noted keynote speakers, such as Blair.

Tri-C has individual, business and community partners who support the scholarship luncheon each year.

“This is often done through corporate support of the luncheon,” Moosmann said. “Our partners will frequently use the luncheon as an opportunity to entertain their priority clients or colleagues.”

Who do you recommend?

To attract speakers of national and international caliber, the foundation works through numerous venues. Its board of directors tries to identify speakers who are of interest to the community, and it relies on the recommendations of prior luncheon speakers.

“Numerous speakers have been secured through the recommendations and referrals of previous speakers,” Moosmann said.

Throughout the years, the college has developed a reputation for the event, and “people know they can count on us to deliver a great speaker,” Moosmann said.

Over its 19 years, the event has generated more than $8.6 million for student scholarships. The most recent luncheon garnered more than $1 million for scholarships.

“Our first luncheon in 1992 raised close to $70,000, so we have built upon that foundation and grown,” Moosmann said.

In addition to raising funds, the event is a prime opportunity for the foundation to showcase the college, its programs and students, and its partnerships within the community, Moosmann said.

“Throughout the luncheon program, the message is about community support, and how important it is to our students—many of whom would be unable to access or continue their education without some financial support from scholarships,” she said.

Power politics

West Hills Community College Foundation in California and its two colleges, West Hills College Lemoore and West Hills College Coalinga, have hosted a number of high-profile speakers. They include former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in May, former First Lady Laura Bush in September, and former deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to President George W. Bush Karl Rove last year.

Rural communities get creative in fundraising

“Our hope with these events is to raise significant funds to provide extra dollars for scholarships, programs and facilities at the colleges,” said Frances Squire, the foundation’s executive director.

“The publicity we have received is amazing, especially from the Palin event,” Squire said.

The foundation has garnered Google Alerts and mentions all over the U.S. and even one from Australia.

“Local media have given us excellent coverage, which is difficult usually because we are very rural and usually out of their sphere of coverage,” Squire said.

There are people in the local community who didn’t even know the college existed prior to the Palin event, and the institution has been in operation for about 10 years, she said.

“Raising money was our main goal, but creating this kind of awareness is priceless,” Squire said.

The foundation has hired Don Branker as its interim special events coordinator. Branker has a long history in the entertainment industry and has organized, produced and promoted some of the most well-attended concerts in the country.

“He is our conduit to these major speakers through organizations like the Washington Speakers Bureau,” Squire said.

Look local

Other rural community colleges have featured speakers who are well-known within the local community as part of their fundraising. In 2008, Northern Maine Community College (NMCC) and its foundation conducted its first-ever major gifts campaign. The college assembled a key team of high-profile community leaders to serve on the campaign committee.

The three people appointed to lead the effort were highly visible individuals, including a hospital CEO, a regional development commission leader and a former congressional candidate. They spoke both publically and privately with donors to help the college reach its $2-million goal, said Jason Parent, director of development and college relations at NMCC and executive director of its foundation.

“The effort was extremely effective, as we exceeded our goal by more than half a million dollars,” Parent said. “As many of the pledges made during that campaign are coming to an end shortly, we are turning to that same campaign team to sign letters of thanks, and to encourage the major gift donors to become annual donors to the institution.”

Parent noted that the individual named honorary campaign chair for the effort, a former state senate majority leader, was the lead donor, establishing a $1-million charitable remainder trust.

Leverage connections

The campaign chairs each had a close connection to the college, Parent said. More than 60 percent of the hospital CEO’s nursing staff graduated from NMCC, the regional development leader was a graduate of the college, and the former congressional candidate had just completed service as chair of the Maine Community College System board of trustees.

“In effect, they weren't just high-profile, but highly informed and connected ambassadors who spoke with conviction and experience about the great work of our college,” Parent said.

Having such high-profile speakers is helpful, not so much because of their star power, but because of their connection to the college, Parent noted.

“It is important to have high-profile speakers or ambassadors for the college who can speak with personal conviction about the benefit of the institution to the community, area businesses and to the prospective donor,” he said.