The true state of fund raising at two-year colleges
By Paul Lanning, Published January 8, 2008

Donations to postsecondary educational institutions are at an all-time high, with average donations reaching $28 billion annually. Of that amount, community colleges see only 2 percent. Why are community colleges, which educate nearly half of America’s undergraduates, bringing in such a small fraction from those willing to donate to education?

In its Oct. 26 issue, the Community College Times raised that question with Miami Dade College (MDC) President Eduardo Padrón. The Q&A asked Padrón to defend MDC and other community colleges against criticisms that they are not doing enough to raise funds. MDC, the largest community college in the U.S., has also built the largest community college endowment. Padrón credits MDC’s fund-raising success to hiring proactive leaders across the board, exploring private partnerships as a means to expand resources and developing a strong foundation of alumni and community support.

Unfortunately, MDC remains the exception, not the rule—and does not, as the title of the article implies, represent the state of fund raising at most community colleges.

The real state of community college fund-raising is one of untapped potential. MDC provides an exemplary model of community college fund raising, yet even they remain far behind most four-year institutions. Nationwide, community colleges have been slow to take on fund-raising efforts and California’s community colleges, which make up the largest higher education system in the nation, are no exception. As president of the Foundation for California Community Colleges, I am particularly concerned about how we can help these colleges do more.

California’s community colleges continue to struggle with rising financial pressure, low public awareness, economically diverse community service areas and lack of alumni support. The system is spread out across a large geographic area that includes both the most affluent and the least economically secure communities. To date, California’s 109 community college foundations have generated a total of $266 million in endowment funds to serve 2.6 million students. Compare that to MDC’s endowment of $209.7 million for about 165,000 students. Or compare that to a private California university: Our combined $266 million endowment represents a mere 2 percent of Stanford’s $12 billion endowment.

Community colleges and their students are missing out. Despite the fact that California lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have kept in-state tuition at just $20 per unit, approximately 86 percent of our independent full-time students have unmet financial need after all aid is considered. We must improve the ability of the system to raise funds that are crucial to supporting all California community college students.

In the article, Padrón touches on some key points for successful college fund raising, including the importance of developing public and private partnerships, upon which universities have long relied to expand resources and visibility. Community colleges can and must do the same.

Because of our unique position as the official non-profit auxiliary, the foundation is able to facilitate partnerships for our colleges by representing the system as a whole. Our role is especially useful in a system as widespread as ours. We have developed strategic partnerships with organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support critical workforce training and youth education programs in all our colleges.

Our relationships with companies like Microsoft enable us to pass on millions in cost savings each year. These partnerships have brought much-needed funds into the system and demonstrate that community colleges can attract private support.

As a next step, I would like to see these partnerships build scholarship, operating and faculty endowments that set the stage for long-term stability. This strategy requires the pursuit of broad-based support from both industry and alumni. Although California’s community colleges boast an impressive alumni roster, we run into the same challenge that Padrón identifies: Alumni tend to have stronger allegiances to four-year and graduate alma maters. According to Padrón, MDC’s strong alumni base is the only one like it in the country, claiming that it benefits from a "unique community" with a "foundation of support unlike any in the country."

In order to build our own alumni base and raise the public profile of our colleges, our foundation is working with our system office to develop an alumni database that includes leaders in business, medicine, politics, entertainment, sports and more. Using this database and sound donor cultivation strategies, we hope to grow a foundation of support similar to the one MDC has developed.

In addition to building alumni support, it is also important that community colleges increase public awareness at the local level. Padrón credits much of his success to strong community support. "MDC is of the community," he states, "and as such, it is fundamental to the prosperity of the region."

The wide geographic spread of California’s colleges makes local presence much more crucial. We are helping to bolster local fund raising through our close work with the Network of California Community College Foundations, which provides leadership, training and networking resources for local college foundations. Our goal is to equip each foundation to fully tap into their community’s support system and develop a shared sense of ownership.

The Foundation for California Community Colleges wholeheartedly agrees with Padrón’s assessment that support for community colleges is the essential building block of social and economic development. I urge community college leaders nationwide to take steps now to ensure that community colleges no longer miss out on the private support we so desperately need and richly deserve.