Advancing excellence: A strategic framework for organisational effectiveness in advancement

From fiscal years 2010 to 2020, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) raised an average of USD$14.2m per year, an amount far below what is expected from a university that has been around for more than 100 years and with more than 120,000 living alumni. A new university president started in 2019 and realised the need to rebuild the advancement operation from the ground up. Her first cabinet hire was the Vice President for Institutional Advancement (VPIA), whose directive was clear: build advancement the right way for the long term. This vision, a departure from the conventional raise-as-much-as-possible-as-quickly-as-possible fundraising approach, emphasised sustainability over rapid gains, steering away from the common pitfalls of focusing solely on major donors and immediate results. Readers will learn the strategic framework the VPIA and Executive Leadership Team implemented to create a sustainable and successful fundraising operation that resulted in three consecutive record-breaking fundraising years while also increasing employee engagement and improving Institutional Advancement's campus reputation.