Donors' pledges at $100M for 2006

Penn alumni have pledged more than $100 million to the University so far this year, twice what they had at the same point last year.

But University administrators are not basking in the glow of this initial success, according to Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations John Zeller. Maintaining the momentum of University President Amy Gutmann's first successful fundraising year is a carefully calculated effort, Zeller said.

For example, Gutmann spent Monday in Miami and Tuesday in Atlanta, meeting with about 300 alumni in each city. The trip was part of her plan to work with alumni both in the United States and abroad.

Trips like these, Zeller said, are key to the major fundraising necessary for some of Gutmann's most ambitious plans, like the development of the land east of the University that Penn will acquire next year.

But deciding exactly where to go and when is a more complicated matter.

Alumni Relations officers decide where to dispatch Penn's deans, faculty, administrators and president to visit with alumni by examining where the University needs a publicity boost.

"It takes a lot of involvement to raise the kind of money that we raise," Zeller said. "Alumni are very hungry and anxious for representatives of the institution to come to their area and tell them about Penn firsthand."

Gutmann has traveled extensively since assuming the presidency in 2004, most recently taking a two-week trip to India in December.

According to Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations Bob Alig, Penn decides where to send representatives to raise funds based on alumni demographics and concentration as well as their levels of accessibility to the University.

For example, "alumni in New York City, while they are huge in number, have good access to campus," Alig said. "It's much different for alumni in Florida."

He added that Gutmann looks to him and Zeller to recommend trips for her to take, which then have to successfully fit into Gutmann's schedule in order to work.

Gutmann says that alumni visits are vital to Penn's success and that she plans to continue them.

"I'd like to go to all the major cities where we have major alumni clubs," Gutmann said. "We have to engage our alumni ... because I want them to know what's happening at Penn and what they can do to help."

Alig said that getting alumni excited about Penn is essential to inspiring donations of money as well as time and expertise -- a point seconded by the president of the Penn Atlanta Alumni Emmanuel Tillman, a 1985 School of Engineering and Applied Science graduate who helped organize Tuesday's event in Georgia.

"Whenever a key person from the University comes out to an alumni group, it does positive things to energize that group," which in turn increases donations," Tillman said.

"Part of it is to get firsthand: 'This is the vision of the University, these are the things we're rolling out,'" Tillman added. "It's very exciting to get examples of what [Gutmann] has been doing."

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