Prior to UTSA’s first capital campaign, there was uncertainty if the university was ready for such an endeavor. The institution was relatively young. America had just entered the 2008 economic recession. Consultants, hired to assess potential success, recommended a low target. And Vice President for External Relations Marjie French, who led the development crew and its fund-raising efforts, had just become part of the UTSA team.
But one thing was certain from the start for President Ricardo Romo and French—partnerships would be critical to success. Throughout the campaign the university relied on an army of ambassadors—made up of dedicated alumni, faculty, staff, students, and community members—who touted UTSA’s status as a top-tier institution to potential donors. It was evident, though, that even for these partners the guiding strength of conviction came right from the top—in the partnering of Romo and French themselves.
But one thing was certain from the start for President Ricardo Romo and French—partnerships would be critical to success. Throughout the campaign the university relied on an army of ambassadors—made up of dedicated alumni, faculty, staff, students, and community members—who touted UTSA’s status as a top-tier institution to potential donors. It was evident, though, that even for these partners the guiding strength of conviction came right from the top—in the partnering of Romo and French themselves.
As planning progressed, UTSA turned to the study from the consulting firm hired to help strategize. In its analysis—considering factors like the university’s young age and the size of the alumni population—the firm recommended a goal of $100 million. But UTSA’s leadership was more ambitious and opted for $120 million. It was a loftier goal, Romo points out, but the team knew it had to aim for it. “If I had known, though, that it would take nearly 33,000 donors making 73,000 gifts,” he exclaims, “I would have thought, Do we have that?”
That’s where university ambassadors came into play, especially campaign committee chairs Tom C. Frost Jr. and James Bodenstedt ’96. They had the connections in the community that helped cut a path to success and allowed UTSA to exceed campaign goals not only once but twice. “The groundswell of support that San Antonio exhibited for UTSA was excellent,” French says.
The We Are UTSA campaign began low-key in 2009 and hit the initial goal of $120 million within months of the public launch. In the summer of 2015, the campaign set and then met the second—and more ambitious—goal of $175 million. By the end of the campaign this past August, it reached a total of $180 million in gifts. When combined with matching funds from state sources, the impact reaches $202 million. The funds are already supporting student scholarships and fellowships, faculty recruitment, research and support, campus activities, and community outreach programs. Overall, the number of annual gifts and pledges increased 159 percent and the number of annual donors increased 160 percent. Since the campaign’s beginning, the market value of endowment gifts has increased 115 percent.
“This accomplishment is a major milestone that takes us one step closer to Tier One designation,” Romo says, “and gives San Antonio even more momentum as a world-class city.”
But before those accomplishments, UTSA had to build the team, which for French meant building the operation while fund-raising was getting started. “When I came in, I felt like President Romo had the weight of the world on his shoulders in terms of having to make these asks of the community almost by himself. Fund-raising takes a lot of work. It takes good planning, good writing of proposals. The president cannot do it alone; he succeeds with a team. That knowledge helped the volunteers realize that the campaign chair or President Romo wouldn’t be the only ones going out and raising money; it would be a team of people.”
French adds, “I loved the idea of coming to UTSA to raise money for a university that had a comprehensive story—the arts, the sciences, launching a new football program. All of that was really exciting to me as part of a strong foundation for a good campaign.” French also credits the president and other university vice presidents for their support. “If you come in to a position like this,” she says, “and you don’t have support and a seat at the leadership table, your chances for success decrease significantly. But we had the buy-in from the entire team.”
Even though the administration was ready for the launch, higher education and the nation were facing some tough financial times in 2008 as the economic recession hit. But the team used that to its advantage. “We took the time to strengthen the case for reasons to support the university,” French explains. “This type of campaign was new to the San Antonio community. Because this wasn’t primarily an alumni-based campaign—which is traditionally where you find most prospective donors—the success was really about gaining local support and proving to the community that we were worthy of investment.”
“When I first came to UTSA, we couldn’t have launched this campaign,” Romo adds. “We were not quite known yet. It took us 10 years to get on the radar for everybody through a combination of things. We have really good work being done by really good faculty. We launched our football program. We have world rankings. When we started cybersecurity, we weren’t even in the top 100 among ranked institutions. A few years later, though, we were in the top 50. I was happy. I was happy when we got in the top 25. Now we are number one in America. Those achievements were made by individuals who are part of this university.”
With UTSA building its football program, adding world-class researchers and faculty, and increasing academic opportunities for students, the community responded. Campaign volunteers started stepping up, including Clay Killinger ’83, a UTSA alumnus who was a senior vice president at Valero at the time. Killinger was a catalyst behind Valero’s donation of a matching gift that eventually totaled $5 million, kicking off the campaign with a bang. “That’s when I knew,” French says, “that we were going to succeed.”
There were surprises too along the way. Longtime San Antonio schoolteacher Mary McKinney’s bequest of $22 million was the biggest. Now, that gift’s value has grown to more than $30 million.
In some cases during the campaign, the winning pitches to donors came from faculty members who presented what they were doing in their field of research. When people could see that kind of innovation and see that the faculty members are so invested in their work that made a clear impact, Romo says: “Many of our donors are very idea-oriented. They are very innovation-oriented. What’s innovative about this program? What makes it different or better? When you can explain that, then they want to attach their name to it.”
The same idea holds true for donors who directly support students. Romo points to Carlos and Malú Alvarez as an example. Each year, more than 100 students will benefit from the Alvarez family’s donations. “Carlos comes to campus and interacts with the scholars,” Romo says. “He sees them working on their projects and showing their passion and enthusiasm for what they are doing. And they are able to do it because they got a grant or scholarship from him. He sees these kids realizing their dream.”
With the campaign’s close, the university is keeping that momentum going as its leadership works to finalize a new strategic plan—UTSA 2020 Blueprint—and lay out the next five years for the university. Hiring more than 200 new faculty members, adding at least five doctoral degree programs, and increasing enrollment of master’s and doctoral students are just a few of the goals.
As UTSA grows, so will its impact on the city as well as the investment from the community. “We have so many students, and that allows us to touch so many lives,” Romo explains. French adds, “Donors are going to continue to do great work for society. We just had to show them we were worth their investment. What we learned is that San Antonians want an excellent public university right here in our city. That’s something we’d hoped for. And that’s what we will continue to ask them to invest in.”
–Michelle Mondo