University College Oxford

university college oxford univ

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OXFORD 

Challenge

University College Oxford (Univ) is one of the oldest Colleges in the University of Oxford, founded in 1249. Proud of its history, but with a progressive and inclusive ethos today, and a focus on accessibility and diversity.

Having recently completed the biggest major capital campaign in its history, Univ wanted to gather the views of its donors and seek advice on how to shape and focus the College’s messaging, ahead of embarking on its next fundraising programme. Philanthropy Company was commissioned to gather insights from internal stakeholders and Old Members on fundraising and also to develop a narrative for Univ’s next fundraising approach.

Response

We held 21 meetings with a wide range of Fellows, Staff and Old Members from a cross-section of demographics and giving. We held regular meetings with the Univ Development Team (including through a change in Development Director) and facilitated a workshop with them on the challenges and enablers for success and their ideas for the future. We analysed a range of Univ collateral, the events programme, fundraising history and their pipeline.

We produced a detailed report on our findings with critical messaging, areas of focus and approach for their next phase of fundraising and made expert recommendations to help enable the Development function to thrive.

Impact

The report we produced set out a path for the Development Team and the College to take forward in this next fundraising programme. Our report highlighted the key challenges and success factors for the team to build upon and address. The depth of the stakeholder insights gathered through the work of our experienced team gave validity, robustness and authority to Univ’s planning and decision-making. Our expert recommendations created a framework and narrative for fundraising success which the Development Team are now taking forward.

“Philanthropy Company provided valuable insights and recommendations for Univ.
They were professional and a delight to work with and
importantly, their work had real substance. I would recommend them.”

Felice Nassar, Director of Development, Communications and Alumni Relations.

"They quickly understood our challenges and came up with practical and deliverable solutions for us to implement to help grow funding for young people leaving care in Britain"

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