CWU LIVING HISTORY PROJECT
Jen Grey
(Transcription of Tape 1, Side 1)
KB: Today is Tuesday, December 6, 2005. I’m Karen Blair, about to interview Jen Gray about the history of Central Washington. Could you start by telling us something about your background, and tell us when you came to this university?
JG: Sure. I started working at the University in February of ’94, and I was hired by the CW Foundation to be their business manager. And what that entailed was basically the accounting aspects, but also getting all the records up to date and computerized with the University records, and before that it was paper and pencil, basically. Some efforts had been made to computerize, but there were a lot of records that were still – needed to be analyzed and reconciled to verify that those were indeed the right amount and the right figures. The paper and pencil figures were correct, but we just had to make sure that we got everything down correctly in the computer system, as well.
And what I found in that process was – we had a lot of Trusts that were established in the mid-eighties, and the records were pretty loose. Endowments were established, but there was no signature from the donors on how they wanted the funds to be used – only a few written words in somebody’s handwriting, or a typewritten on how the funds were to be used. So one of my goals was to meet with the donors and get those – the endowment criteria established so that it was very clear, and it just took a long time. And at that time, I think, when I started, the assets were about $5 million, and today I believe it’s more like $12-13 million.
KB: So that’s a space of fif – uh, eleven years.
JG: Eleven years. And I was Foundation business manager the first year, and then – uh – in July of ’95, then, I also took on community relations. And a lot of that had to do with Taco Bell issues, but that’s another story.
KB: Well – maybe we’ll get to that later. Before we go on with the Foundation, would you talk a little bit about your background? What your preparation was for the job?
JG: Sure. I worked for the Federal Government when I got out of high school for five years, and then stopped and had a family. And then I went back to work for the City of Ellensburg in 1981 as office manager, and did that for nine years, and then was promoted to shop supervisor for four years. And that entailed purchasing, supervising mechanics and building maintenance, inventory, etc. – motor pool. And during the time I worked at the City as office manager I decided to start my college education. So my son and I started as freshmen together in the fall of ’86. And I was very fortunate that the City of Ellensburg paid for any classes that might benefit the City, so I would suspect that they paid at least two-thirds of my undergraduate education. And I had a supportive boss who allowed me to take an hour off as long as I made up the time, and all I remember is the – the hardest thing was finding parking places, even though – if I – if I was down at Shaw-Smyser that’s different, because I could walk just as fast as I could find a parking place, but if I was up towards the library or something, then I’d drive, and finding a parking place was the challenge, and get to class on time. So anyway, I started taking classes, and decided to build on my business experience. And so I started with – planning to major in Business Administration. After I took Principles of Accounting the professor said, “You have a talent for this. You should consider being an accountant.” And I said, “But I don’t necessarily want to be an accountant.” And he said, “Well, you can double-major.” So I went home that night, and yes indeed, I could accomplish it with 180 credits, and so I decided to do that. And then when I took Accounting 350 with O’Shaughnessy I thought, “Why am I doing this to myself?” It was grueling. But I persevered, and – so I have an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and in Accounting, and I got that in August of ’92, and immediately went into my graduate program in Organization Development here at Central in the fall – a two-year program. So I got that in ’94. And while I was at the City – working at the City shop those last four years I really was looking for another challenge – another career option – and the Foundation business manager position opened up.
KB: Was it a new position, or had someone else held it?
JG: It was an elevated position. There was more of a bookkeeper before – fiscal tech – and so they decided to make it a business manager with – one of the goals was to build that position into executive director of the Foundation. And that was under Vice President Mark Young, at the time. And he allowed me to have more and more responsibility over the Investment and Finance Committee of the Foundation, the Governance Committee of the Foundation, the Small Grants Committee, and – what else did we have at that time? I don’t remember exactly. He was more in charge of the Executive Committee at that time, and the Foundation Board of Directors. But later on I – I took over on that as well, when I became interim Vice President in the fall of 1999, and did that for three years.
KB: Well, I have lots of questions for you. I’d be interested to know what part-time student’s experience is like, too, as well as how the Foundation operated. You willing to talk about –
JG: Sure.
KB: – Central from an undergraduate and graduate student’s point of view?
JG: Yes, um – I think my undergraduate experience – what I found was this willingness and almost obsession to learn and excel in my class work. And it was stimulating that the more I knew, the more I realized I didn’t know, and wanted to know. So it was very challenging and interesting, but I found that I had to – with a family, with work, with studying, I found I had to give up some things. I gave up media – I didn’t watch TV, I didn’t read the newspaper. If there was something critical going on I relied on my family to let me know. I had a supportive husband at home, so he – he was really encouraging and allowed me the time that I needed to do my studying. And –
KB: Did you make any buddies in the classes? Did you have peers your age?
JG: There were a few peers my age. Carolyn Pearson here on campus was one, and we still visit occasionally. We only had one class together, and that was Spanish. But most of my time was spent in the classroom, and back at work, so I – what I do regret – that my two sons have graduated from here, and my daughter-in-law graduated from here – is that social aspect of campus life. I had a little bit of that with my graduate program because it was a cohort program. So the twelve of us went through the two years together, and it’s a lot of good memories there, and a lot of good support. Collegiality, you know. So it was – that was good that I had it then, but I think – think it is so important for young students to reside on campus and get a feel for that campus life. Even though my two sons grew up here in Ellensburg, they lived on campus. Not the whole time, but they lived on campus for a period of time, and I just think that that’s important – for them to have that socialization process.
KB: Did you participate in any way in the organizations for non-traditional students? No time for that?
JG: I didn’t. I – I don’t know why I didn’t. I guess mainly because I’m from Ellensburg, so I didn’t – I think a lot of the non-traditional students from out of town who come here may need to have some socialization that I didn’t require, so I didn’t participate in that. I did join – I know I joined the Student Society for Human Resource Management when I took that class, and kept that up for probably a little while. And so that was kind of interesting, because it was different, and wasn’t – didn’t totally take up my time.
KB: What did it do? Why did you – why were you drawn to it?
JG: Well it was one of the classes that I took, and I thought that it would just broaden my experience, or my knowledge of human resource management by doing this, and it kind of gives you a feel for what students are doing, too.
KB: So what kinds of – it’s a club?
JG: Yes, it is a club.
KB: And I’m – I’m not aware of what kinds of activities it engaged in.
JG: Well some of the meetings were focused on getting a speaker in to talk about a specific issue, and some of it was more civic engagement – doing volunteer work in the community, that sort of thing.
KB: Are there professors, or staff, or administrators that stuck out in your mind as you were a student that were particularly helpful, or good leaders, or people you respected for one reason or another?
JG: Definitely. I – I think – some of the ones that come to mind are John Herum, and I think I had him for English 102, or one of those. Anyway, his style was different, in that he wanted you to prepare – you only had to prepare one paper, but it had to be a lengthy paper, and you had to do research on it, and you had to do an outline, and you had to do it his way. And I thought, “I’m a grown adult. Why do I have to do it his way?” But I did it his way because I also know that sometimes you just do it. And I didn’t really appreciate it until I went to graduate school, and everything that he taught me in preparing that paper was what I needed in preparing my thesis. And so the whole process – I knew the process because of what he taught me.
Karen Gookin in English was very interesting. It was an American Lit class, and she had us do an article after each piece, or a selected piece, and how we interpreted it into our lives. So that was kind of interesting, because what I found – what – that I interpreted – mainly in two people who had an influence in my life. One was my mother, who was an alcoholic, and so I – I focused a lot on her alcoholism, and how it either helped me, or was a problem between us. And the other was losing my best friend to cancer. So it seemed like it was the darker side, but it was kind of cleansing.
I think one of my favorite instructors is Owen Dudmore in Psychology, and I was in his class – there were probably 80 students in a class, and it was a pretty immature-acting class, but what I was most impressed with – a couple of – two things:
One: No student had a foolish question or answer. He never – what he strived to do was to build their confidence level, and he never put anybody down, ever. But the other thing is, is that I think he opened up so many student’s eyes to diversity – gays, people of color, different ages – it was – the class was Psychology of Adjustment, so it was appropriate to be discussing all these. And it was – it was very rewarding to watch some of the growth of the students, just in their behavior in the classroom.
I think – there’s a lot of good Accounting professors – excellent Accounting professors. They’re very – they teach you not just the theory, but also the practicality of it, so that you can put – put what you learn into practice. And I have benefited because of a lot of my Accounting instruction.
KB: Did you have anything to do with David Dauwalder when he was at the Business School?
JG: No. He came – he came later. I think I gra- – maybe he came the last year I was in classes, but probably mostly Accounting classes. Let’s see –
KB: Shall we go on to the Foundation?
JG: Yeah, mm-hmm.
KB: And what you found when you got there, and how it evolved over time?
JG: What I found was that there were a lot of good people on the Foundation Board – very interested in moving the college forward. What we needed to do was go to the next step, and that was tying in the Foundation with fund raising or development. And we – the first thing we did was change the by-laws so that there would be term limits, and – not to say that they weren’t good people, or anything like that. I don’t want to say that. What it is, is – the more times you have people involved in your institution, the closer they become, the more they understand, and the more likely they are to give, whether it’s their time, or their treasure, or their talent. And so we did that. We instilled the term limits. And during that time we also strengthened the mission of the Foundation Board, which is – it’s a committed Board of Directors to fund raising for the University, which is – I think it’s something like private resources – that sort of thing. I can email you the – the mission statement, or it’s probably on the web. It should be on the web. But that was a huge step in realizing it was a fund raising board.
KB: What was it doing before? And do you know when it started?
JG: It started in 1968. Jim Brooks was one of the founding members. And there were, I think, about six founding members, and got the charter, and got the 501C3 classification from the IRS, and started the process. And I think the first year they had about $6000 worth of assets, and – steadily grew. During that time I’d say Larry Danton, who was Dean of the School of Business at the time, was instrumental in getting a lot of funds to help with the accreditation process. And that was probably one of the biggest efforts that they had.
KB: Of the Business School, or accreditation of the entire University?
JG: Just of the Business School. So he was very instrumental in getting that going, and I think Larry Lium [she spells it] was the – well he wasn’t a Vice President at that time, but Director of University Relations at that time. And so that – that was the major effort, and I think they raised about – well it was over $500,000 in all.
KB: And it was able, in the Foundation guidelines, to be targeted for the Business School’s use?
JG: Well that – one of it was [coughs] – excuse me – a matching gift. A $250,000 matching gift to establish the Milt Colt endowed professorship, and we got the match from the Higher Education Coordinating Board. And then there were other efforts as well, to raise money, so it was – they probably raised somewhere between $700 and $1 million. The problem I had was finding out what records supported that. Again, over time some of those records were lost, and so it’s really hard to pinpoint how much was raised. And –
KB: Was it from individuals, from corporations, from regional?
JG: Mostly individual, but a lot of corporate leaders who donated, as well, and had a very fond respect for Larry Danton.
KB: So would you say that Brooks had in mind to launch this Foundation so that this accreditation could occur for Business?
JG: No, I think that came later, because that was in the 80’s. The Foundation was started basically to do some fundraising. And I’m not sure when we started what we call our CW Associates program, but I know that it was going in the 1980s. And what that was is $1000 or more. The other thing they did at that time is initiate a lifetime giving. If you gave $10,000 or more you were a Lifetime Associate. Now we’ve since – we’ve grand fathered the Lifetime Associates in, but of course, $10,000 in today’s dollars, compared to what it was in the early 80’s is quite a bit different, so we don’t have a Lifetime Associates program any more. But we do steward them like they were the Lifetime donors that they were at the time, so – so a lot – I think there was a lot of building in that time period in the early to late 80s.
KB: Who took the leadership?
JG: I’d say it was probably Larry Lium. But Larry Danton, of course, was very instrumental in the col – School of Business, which it was called at that time, so – um – but they had a very active Board of Visitors with the School of Business.
KB: And what was that?
JG: They were basically doing some fundraising, peer to peer.
KB: Who were these visitors?
JG: I don’t remember all of them. I know – uh – most of them were male.
KB: Were they leaders in business?
JG: Mm-hmm. They were community people, business leaders.
KB: Now the 1980s is when the second big wave of budget cuts occurred from the legislature. There were some rifts here. Hebeler Hall was closed. Was the funding targeted for projects that were losing ground, or were you open to any money that anybody wanted to give for any reason?
JG: I don’t find any records of real consistent fundraising on that broad base – um – so I think it – a lot of it was targeted. And since we didn’t have a full-time Development officer back then, it was sort of on an as-needed basis. I think they accomplished a lot with very little staff and time. But I think one of the drawbacks was that we lost the momentum during that time, when you compare – our development efforts compared to other Universities similar to us – regional institutions with similar sizes, etc. And I’d say we’re ten to fifteen years behind other institutions. Not all of them, but –
KB: So Cheney and Bellingham worked harder in the Eighties, and have built from there?
JG: Bellingham is definitely ten to fifteen years ahead of us. Um – Eastern might be just a couple years ahead of us.
KB: Well what did they do that we didn’t do? Hire full-time staff?
JG: Exactly. We didn’t hire our first Development officer – full-time Development officer to focus on nothing but development – until 1994.
KB: And that was you?
JG: That was Maria Thompson. And there were so many fundamentals that needed to be accomplished when she came here. The first thing we had to do was develop an annual plan. The second thing was that our alumni records and our donor records were on two different systems, and they didn’t speak to each other, so if you had an address update, you had to change it in both records. So – um – that was another primary goal where in – I believe it was in ’96 where I was also assigned advancement services, which is basically looking at the gift processing – um, process – and the database management. And so we hired somebody to – to take care of the gift records and the donor alumni records, and we bought a new software program, and it’s called Raiser’s Edge. And so we had to – um – convert our alumni records and our donor records into the new system. The problem with the alumni records were – it was a program developed here on campus, and so at some point in time they decided that – they didn’t have a place to put maiden names, so they put it in the salutations. So instead of being Mr. or Ms, Doctor – whatever – you’d have a maiden name in there. So trying to pull those records and then also link the married couples and – or – a person you know gets a matching gift from a corporation, we link the records. It was a monumental task to accomplish, and took well over a year to get it done. We did the alumni records first – cleaned up as much as we could – and then did the donor records after that.
KB: Most donations came from alums at that time?
JG: Mm-hmm.
KB: Still?
JG: And community members. At that time we had what we call – back in the – one effort that we did that was kind of community-driven, back in the mid-Seventies, was called the Central Investment Fund. And there – I think at that time there was a downturn in enrollment, and so the community came up with the idea that if we offer scholarships for the best and the brightest, not only do they come, but they bring three or four friends with them. And so they started a community and University effort. So we had volunteers on the community drive, and volunteers on the campus drive, and raised quite a bit of money that way. Supported a lot of scholarships. And people still donate to that fund. It is an endowed fund at this point in time. I know that there’s well over $100,000 in it.
KB: How much?
JG: Over $100,000. Um – I’m not sure exactly how many scholarships we offer, because we haven’t – over the past three or four years we haven’t put as much effort into that Central Investment Fund, because a lot of the people who had started it, they’re – they either – their interest died out, or um – there’s just been a lot of change over 25, 30 years, so – uh – it’s still going, but we just don’t do a major effort on that kind of fundraising.
KB: What kinds of major efforts are, instead, replacing it?
JG: Well we have – what we’re focusing on now are major gifts, and right now that’s $10,000 and above, and in a couple of years it will probably be $25,000 and above will be classified as a major gift. And so for Development officers, that’s what we’re focusing on. My job is gift and estate planning, so I focus a lot on planned giving. But because we’re in the silent phase of the Comprehensive Gifts Campaign, I’m focusing a lot of my efforts on major gifts as well. When I meet with somebody – um – typically my targeted alums are 65 and above, or 70 and above. These are retirees. What I do is – I build relationships, and once you get to a level of trust and – and understanding with people – I encourage them to put CW in their estate plans. And there are different ways to encourage that, whether it’s through a bequest – because a lot of our retirees of that age are retired teachers, so a bequest is appropriate. The next one would be a charitable gift annuity where the older you are, the higher rate you get, and you get a charitable deduction, and you’re guaranteed an annuity payment for life. We have a few trusts, but they come few and far between. We’re accepted real estate before, but we’re not property managers so our goal is to turn around and sell it, and then invest the proceeds and then use it as the donor sees fit. The – um – the other efforts that we have are what we call Annual Giving. And so that would be the donor who gives $100 a year, or $500 a year, every year. And we do a lot of that through our calling connections – telefunding – where the students call the alums, and we also do it through direct mail. And a lot of them are targeted – like when we’re calling the alums, we’ll – the money will – often times it – that’s kind of dicey because sometimes it will be for just basically unrestricted, for the best, most critical needs of the University, and other times it will be for the College. And direct mail is more targeted to either their College, or their department, and with direct mail the more narrow the focus, the closer to their interests and their experiences, the more success you have.
Now in the earlier years, the alumni office did the annual fund drive. And so they – they did a lot of that and – but it was – it was kind of sporadic, so you know, they might do it one year, and then they might do it 18 months later. I think they did a good job again because they weren’t Development officers. They did it, and were successful at it, but it wasn’t their major focus. Alumni Relations focuses mainly on friend raising, and cultivating – connecting and reconnecting them to the University.
KB: Is that preliminary to the donor process?
JG: In the ideal world, most definitely. The closer connection they have with the institution the more success we will have with fund raising. So I think it’s very important that we’re out there, that we’re – they’re finding out what’s going on at the University, whether it’s through newsletters, through the College, through the department – we have our – we just changed the name of our alumni magazine. It’s now Central Connections. And so alumni get those magazines, or –
KB: What was it called before?
JG: Central Today. And when we host alumni gatherings in different locales, uh, where they can come and meet – whether the president is there, or somebody to speak on what’s going on that’s new and exciting at the University, and an opportunity for them to ask questions, too.
KB: So how has the fund raising gone? Is it jumping, or is it steadily growing, or is it fitful? Up and down? All of the above?
JG: Um, it – well, let’s just put it this way: we are intending to raise $18 million over the next three to five years. More than likely it will be five years. And this is a major campaign. It’s the first broad-based campaign that the University has done.
KB: When you say broad-based, what do you mean?
JG: Um, it’s $10 million for students – student support, $6 million for faculty enhancements, and $2 million for special opportunities.
KB: What does that mean?
JG: And – special opportunities might be – um – money to help design an alumni house. We’re not doing any buildings, but the alumni association would like to have an alumni house at some point in time. So we might get money for design work for that. Or another special opportunity would be the library. Another special opportunity might be something in athletics besides a scholarship. Um – but we’re moving forward on that, and it’s very exciting to see. Because ever since I’ve been here we’ve been talking. The phrase you hear often is capital campaign, but capital campaign typically means building, and we’re not building a building because the State’s been pretty good to us in that regard. But we need more scholarship money, and we need more money for endowed professorships, faculty support on your research and travel, etc. So that’s what we’re looking for.
KB: How has the staff grown over time?
JG: Well, uh, let’s see. Ninety-four we had the one Development officer, and then in ’97 – um, ’95 we hired the gift processor. In ’97 we hired somebody to do annual giving. Ninety-eight we hired somebody to do associate-level gifts and stewardship. In ’99 I really got into fund raising – uh – I kind of did it before, off and on, because people would call the Foundation, and so my first major gift was $100,000 because I was the one to answer the phone. Not that the $100,000 started then, but since I was the first person and talked to him on the phone – this was a couple who lost their only daughter in that TWA flight 800, and she was an alum, and she was the flight attendant. And not only did he – they do the $100,000, but they did an additional $50,000 later on. And so I did fund raising off and on during that period of time, too. But full-time fund raising started in ’99. And most recently we have hired Development officers – one in each of the Colleges, and one in Athletics. So we have five, what we call decentralized Development officers, and then centralized we have the Senior Director of Development, Julie Klonegger; we have me, Director of Gift and Estate Planning; and Katherine, who is the Director of Donor Relations and Research.
KB: Is that a new position?
JG: It’s a changed position. She was the one that we hired for Associates in Stewardship, and we decided that all the Development officers can do the Associate level, so we changed Stewardship to Donor Relations, but she’s a very good prospect researcher. In other words, if we have – if we’re going to an area, she can do some research and find out who our – who are the people out there that have deeper pockets.
KB: What’s Katherine’s last name?
JG: Scarlett. With two t’s.
KB: Now, is Alumni Relations, then, doing no fund raising? Or are you still linked with them in some ways?
JG: Their fundraising is a little bit different. They look for – they’re more revenue producing than they are fundraising. In other words, they’ve got the credit card program – uh – so that we get some proceeds from alums who sign up on the credit card. They have Liberty Mutual that – you know, we get a certain percentage back. They have an alumni dues membership. So theirs is a little bit different. But the other thing, too, is that they’ve – when they send out their alumni dues membership they’ve added a line, “I would also like to contribute to the alumni scholarship.” So they do a little bit of fundraising in that regard, but that’s not their primary purpose.
KB: And they give four scholarships every homecoming, don’t they, to distinguished alumni in every college?
JG: Yes. Um, that’s a – that’s an award. It’s not a monetary award, but it is an honorary, and it’s very, very important. Plus they give one to each of the colleges, and they also have Special Achievement, which – the difference is that the Distinguished Alums in the Colleges have been out – have graduated from the University 20 years or more. The Special Achievement, on the other hand, is 20 years or less.
KB: Now how would you rate the support of the University in general – the President, other administrators? How has fund raising success changed over time? They must have been different priorities for different leaders?
JG: Well I think under – since I’ve been here, I’ve been with Ivory Nelson and Jeri McIntyre, and of course, the interim President, Dolph Norton. But al three of them have been very supportive of Development, and have put some resources in that regard. But President McIntyre has accelerated it, because she knows that it takes money to make money, and she’s done it in some difficult budget years. Because as you know, since you’ve been here it’s not been – we’ve not – I mean, this last year is the first year that we’ve actually had a little bit of extra money, and that’s not a whole lot. So she’s been very supportive.
KB: So what’s the likelihood of catching up to our peer institutions in this state?
JG: Well, I think – it’s not catching up. It’s – because we all have different – a different constituency base. I mean, yes, occasionally we will have somebody who gets their undergraduate degree from Central, and maybe their graduate degree at Western. You know, that sort of thing. But for the most part, we’re not competing on that level. Where we would compete is at the corporate and foundation level, and one of the things we’re doing now is we have a search in progress right now, that – for – it’s a Development officer for the Student Affairs Enrollment Management, but it’s starting out that way because we want that person to develop some relationships with corporations and foundations to raise money to help pay for some student programs – maybe scholarships, and also, like the Center for Excellence in Leadership, or the Diversity Center – those types of things. Some of the student programs, and the radio station – you know. I’m not saying what those priorities are, but those are just some ideas. And then, after a year or two, hopefully that person will develop into a Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. That is one position that we don’t have, and haven’t had, and is needed. But hopefully this – whoever we do hire will lead into that position.
KB: So have the three presidents you’ve dealt with had different emphases on who should be tapped, or are you pretty autonomous, or do you go to conventions and get taught what’s trendy to – to?
JG: We go to con – conferences, so they’ve been very good about allowing us to go to at least a conference a year. And that’s basically what we do, is a conference a year. And also there’s – like for me, there’s the Washington Planned Giving Council. It’s based in Seattle, and so a lot of my peers belong to an organization like that, and to the national Committee on Planned Giving, and a listserv. So you have lots of resources available, and in Planned Giving that’s very, very important because if I’m dealing with somebody – for instance, I was dealing with somebody who wanted to do what was called a flip trust – and it’s a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, but it doesn’t kick in for a couple of years. Well there’s a lot of taxation issues that you have to be aware of, and because we only do a trust maybe once every two or three years, I have to rely on my peers and my advisory board to help guide me through the process. So there – all – all of the Presidents have been supportive in that regard. I think the difference is, there –
(Transcription of Tape 1, Side 2)
[Tape begins mid-sentence] . . .introvert. So his [Ivory Nelson] comfort-level of going out and meeting with potential donors was not as good. He was better at going out and thanking people for their gifts. President McIntyre, on the other hand, is such a wonderful communicator with so many different constituents that she wants to be out and about, and meeting with donors. So I see that as probably – not only has she accelerated the – the funding and the support for Development, but she is also actively out there doing it. She wants to be out there more, but she’s a busy woman.
KB: What’s the smallest and the largest donation that we’ve had?
JG: Well smallest would be a dollar, I guess. Uh, the largest is – um – Corinne Farrell’s estate - $1.2 million. We did have another million-dollar gift from a corporation. Um – we have such a wide variety of gifts, too. We have not only gifts of cash, we have stock donations, we have property donations, we have people who had insurance and we’re listed as the beneficiary, and the owner – uh – retirement gifts – in other words, we’re listed as a beneficiary on their retirement plan, which is an excellent way to go for anybody who has deferred income, because if they die, the heirs have to pay the income tax at their income tax rate for the deferred income. So that’s an excellent idea. So there’s just so many different ways of giving.
KB: There’s often, at Universities, talk of stress between town and gown, and yet you’ve spoken today as though the community has been supportive. I wonder if you would talk about accomplishments and limitations of community support.
JG: I think during Ivory Nelson’s tenure, frankly, the community support was pretty poor. A lot of that had to do with Taco Bell, and a lot of it had to do with just Ivory’s style – more authoritative than collaborative. When President McIntyre came on board – they see her at functions, whether they’re University functions or community functions. She’ll be at Jazz in the Valley. She’ll be at the Climber Rendezvous. She’ll be at the Rotary Chamber Auction. They see her and David Smith as community members, not the University President. That healed a lot of sore wounds right there – just her style. She’s one of the best things that’s happened to this University.
KB: Would you talk a little about the Taco Bell event? You said you were hired in particular to deal with it, so you’re the source here.
JG: Yeah, so – anyway, as you know, the University put Taco Bell into the Sub, and a lot of our community members really felt that that was an unfair advantage for Taco Bell, because the taxation is not the same, because the University doesn’t pay real estate tax, B&O tax – that sort of thing. So it was an unfair advantage, and we didn’t open it up to others to bid on it here, locally. So when I started in Community Relations, the first thing I did was I got together a group of what I called –um – Community Development Group, and we met – I can’t remember. I think at the beginning we met once a month, and then we met quarterly, but we would talk about different issues, and one of the first things we did was cleared the air on Taco Bell. And a lot of what their perceptions were of what we did with Taco Bell were incorrect. A lot of them were correct. But they also got to hear our side of the story on we’re here to meet the students’ needs, the students want this, and blah blah. So whenever – like with the new student union building and the rec center going in, I – I hope that people have learned from that Taco Bell lesson that the memories are still there. That we have to be a little careful, and you have to communicate. That’s the main thing, is communicate. I know that there’s some sensitivity with the – with the recreation equipment – that the two gyms in town may not survive with that kind of competition, and especially if they open out to faculty and staff. So it’s got to be fair competition. That’s all they want – just have it be fair.
KB: Why did you take on such a hot job? It must have been quite a challenge!
JG: It was, but it was interesting. And because I had no ownership either side, I understood both sides, and so it was more just listening – actively listening, and being concerned.
KB: Does that organization still meet?
JG: No. We dissolved probably about two years later, because we weren’t coming up with any issues, so there was no reason to meet. And I think, because of that, I did gain a level of trust in the community, because I was asked Chamber President. And I looked at the history of the Chamber, and only two other University people have ever been Presidents of the Chamber of Commerce, so I thought that was quite an honor.
KB: And they were Larry Danton?
JG: It was Larry Danton, and one was very early and I can’t remember who it was now, but maybe in the Thirties, or Twenties, or something like that.
KB: And so you were President when?
JG: Uh, 1999 to 2000.
KB: Well congratulations. Now if you had to target a few individuals who really moved mountains for the Foundation, who would be the most outstanding? I’m thinking of board members, but maybe you have other –
JG: Yeah, well that’s what I’m thinking of, too. I mean, as staff, we all have responsibility in moving it forward, but – I think one of the most important people is Larry Pinnt – P-I-N-N-T. He is an alum, and he – he had a quiet presence. In other words, there’d be a lot of discussion going on, but he was able to bring the discussion with a few sentences and just hit the nail on the head, and, and move you forward immediately. He was a great mentor for me. I learned a lot. He has a lot of corporate board experience, and he was the CFO of – um – US West – and – which was Pacific Northwest Bell, and Qwest. I don’t know. They all change names. I can’t remember them all. So I think that he was instrumental.
KB: And when you say he synthesized debate – about what? Was the board discussing who to chase for dollars, or what to spend their money on, or?
JG: No. Not in the Development efforts, but in the policy making of the Foundation Board – that’s where he was most instrumental. And in order to raise money, you’ve got to have your policies in place. You can’t do it without, because otherwise people are out there accepting things that we shouldn’t accept, or we have to have certain giving levels established, etc. But there was so much policy development in the mid-90’s to the late 90’s that were - they were very, very important. And he served on the Foundation Board, and then also served on the Investment and Finance Committee for many, many years.
KB: How big is the Board?
JG: Uh, I think there’s about 18-20 members. It needs to be larger, but what we’re finding is so many people are so busy, they don’t have the time. They have the desire, but they just don’t have that time to commit.
KB: Doesn’t have a financial commitment, does it? Do you promise to give?
JG: There – there is an expectation that yes, you will give. I mean, it’s a fundraising board, so one of the first things, if you ever ask – if you ever open doors for somebody, you want to make sure that you’re giving first. That’s just – that’s just primary. I’m trying to think of some others.
Denny Weston – he was a more recent Chair of the Board. He was instrumental in getting the mission statement changed to a fundraising board.
KB: From what?
JG: Uh, to a organization that supported the University. So it was a little more vague. I think everybody on the Foundation Board understood that, but really, we needed to emphasize that they were a fundraising board.
There might be some in the earlier years. I’d say Jim Brooks, because with – you know, and the other charter members were definitely instrumental in getting that going.
KB: Do they get perks? Do they get the best seats at football games? Is there anything but service?
JG: It’s service, yeah. I knew – I had a board member once who asked me if I would pay for their mileage, and I said, “No.” And so we actually instituted that in our policy, as well, that we don’t pay for mileage. Because again, it wasn’t very clear, but – um – when they come for a meeting we might feed them lunch.
KB: And uh – these are not nominated, like the Governor nominates a Board of Trustees. These are people who come forward and identify themselves as interested?
JG: Or we identify them, or they – the former Foundation Board members identify them.
KB: I would imagine in this world of money women have not been prominent. Is that right?
JG: Yes. We have women on the Foundation Board, but they’re a minority.
KB: Now I understand that the Foundation does – holds – um – does other things. I mean, if a student’s apartment is burned, we are invited to make the donation to the Foundation. Um – that’s not exactly a fundraising element. That’s sort of a middleman, isn’t it?
JG: Yeah, but it provides an avenue so that the money can be directed to that student. Um – that’s a secondary. It’s not our primary focus. That’s just because we care about a student, and how can we get the job done so that student has some funds. And you can’t run it through the State, so you run it through the Foundation. That’s another reason the Foundation was started – because the State has such rigid guidelines and restrictions that you have a little more leverage and ability to do things with funds that you can’t do with State funds. Um – for just that kind of reason, to help a student in that regard, or – a lot of what we do, and I know a lot of people along campus probably think all we do is wine and dine, well I don’t even drink wine so – I may whine, but I don’t drink it. Um, but part of building a relationship is socialization, and so we will take a donor to dinner, or – you know – as a way to thank them, and so – and you obviously can’t do that with State funds.
KB: Do you have any forecasts for what the fundraising job and results will year in the immediate years to come?
JG: Well as soon as we finish this $18 million campaign we’ll take probably a year to prepare for the next one. What this campaign is hoping to do is – we’re calling it a capacity-building campaign. And what we mean by that is a lot of our alums are used to giving $100 or $500 a year, but they’re not increasing their gifts. And we want to make sure that they know what our needs are. I find it so rewarding to meet with our alums. I find they’re well balanced people. They’re not sold on themselves. They care about people. And when I tell them what the needs are, I don’t have to ask them for money. They’re smart people. They know what my job is. I’m telling them the needs. They put two and two together, and I suppose that maybe five percent of the time I might have to ask for a gift. But most of the time they’ll come up with their own. Um, and that capacity building campaign is just stretching it a little bit to see if they won’t make a larger gift.
KB: What percentage of alums do give?
JG: I think it’s about 7%, and what we really need to do is get that higher. I think – I can’t remember what Eastern’s and Western’s is, but I think it’s more like 10 or 11.
KB: Any last thoughts you want to share? What else do I need to know about the history of fundraising at Central?
JG: Right now I can’t come up with anything, but –
KB: Well if you have additional thought I would welcome them in the future.
JG: Okay.
KB: Thank you!
JG: Oh, this was fun.
KB: I learned a lot.
JG: Mm-hmm.
KB: I appreciate your time.
JG: Yeah.