Pragmatic Fund-Raising for College Administrators and Development Officers

"Pragmatic Fund-Raising provides just the kind of information fund-raisers must have to be successful. Ralph Lowenstein has produced an essential guide, not only for university administrators and development officers, but also for fund-raisers in most not-for-profit organizations and institutions."--Leighton E. Cluff, former president, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

"Ralph Lowenstein has written a ‘tour de force’ for deans and other academic officers interested in improving their fund-raising performance! It is both a wise and practical guide from someone whose own considerable fund-raising success demonstrates the value of his advice. I recommend it highly."--Robert R. Lindgren, vice president for development and alumni relations, Johns Hopkins Institutions

As its title implies, Pragmatic Fund-Raising is a nuts-and-bolts guide for academics new to fund-raising and for veteran fund-raisers looking for new ways to approach their craft. Ralph Lowenstein won a reputation as one of the best fund-raising deans in the United States during his eighteen years as dean of the College of Journalism at the University of Florida. He was the college's sole development officer, yet he raised more than $20 million in endowments alone. By the time he left his post in 1994, Lowenstein's efforts had established sixty-eight different endowment funds at his college, ranging in size from $10,000 to more than $5 million.

Pragmatic Fund-Raising is neither a theoretical book nor a simple memoir. In it, Lowenstein outlines the methods that have made him such a renowned and successful fund-raiser:

--how to recognize and approach a potential donor
--how to organize a capital campaign committee
--how to arrange successful meetings for advisory boards
--how to approach foundations
--how to write a compelling proposal
--and many more.

Lowenstein offers practical advice and specific tools and strategies that can make college administrators more effective arms of the university development process. To this purpose, he includes at the end of his book more than twenty exhibits, including a sample letter of invitation, a letter of thanks following a meeting, a proposal cover letter, a letter confirming an agreement, and even a letter of condolence. Other exhibits show simple methods of record keeping and successful themes in alumni publications.

Pragmatic Fund-Raising is the manual for planning and implementing the kind of successful fund-raising strategy so crucial to the continued growth and development of today’s institutions of higher learning.

Ralph L. Lowenstein is dean emeritus of the College of Journalism at the University of Florida.