Process for Establishing Development Priorities

Rationale

Starting in early 2025, the development team at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association will only present proposals to donors that have been approved by the dean. This approach better aligns expenditures for development with fundraising objectives and increases transparency as to how development effort is directed. Development officers are co-funded by the CALS Dean’s Discretionary fund and the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association. Other college staff in External Relations, Academic Affairs and Business Services also assist in advancement and donor efforts. The success of this team, and clear, consistent communications about our priorities in CALS is necessary for future fundraising success.

The college will be reviewing and curating proposals from all CALS units to enhance our future donor conversations. This will give all units an equal chance to be able to communicate via a proposal process how gifts can transform what we do in CALS. It will also enable the college to prioritize gifts that have the greatest strategic impact and deploy resources to successfully
raise funds for these priorities.

As always, our advancement team will continue to emphasize as our top priority the need for discretionary funding of the Dean’s office and other units. This is an area where the college has not had the type of success warranted by our programs.

Guidance

Only unit leaders (chairs or center directors) can submit development proposals to the Dean’s office. Proposals should consist of one page or less of text and should include a separate budget page highlighting how incoming gift funds will be spent.

Proposals will be presented by department chairs/center directors at the annual meeting with the dean, then reviewed by CALS leadership using criteria to align with our strategic priorities. Unit leaders will be informed if their proposal is selected as a college fundraising priority and will work with the advancement team to implement a strategy for donor engagement.

Proposals that fund the following are especially encouraged:

• Funding for a new or existing academic program or other student opportunity. Examples include funding for specialized equipment/supplies or student experiences that are part of a lab, experiential learning, or other activity.
• Funding for renovations of spaces for students, and other uses, including lab spaces for new hires.
• Funding for outreach or novel, unfunded Extension activities.
• Support for graduate TAs or graders for specific courses, which are described.
• Seed funds for innovative, collaborative research programs. Budgets must include breakdown of student support, supplies and equipment, etc.