Penn is at least $1 billion into its current fundraising campaign, but shhh - you didn't hear it from us.
Since 2004, the University has been in the quiet phase of a capital campaign - Penn's most ambitious in history, University officials say - that isn't scheduled to go public until this fall.
Officials will not release a specific financial goal until then, but Penn President Amy Gutmann said it will be a multi-billion dollar campaign, slated to last through 2012.
But why all the whispering?
Administrators say they use the quiet phase period to test messages, develop goals and build support among past and potential donors.
And, according to philanthropy experts, this time is crucial.
"If the quiet stage is not done well, it will affect everything," said Bobbie Strand, a partner at the Minneapolis-based philanthropy consulting firm Bentz Whaley Flessner.
Financially, the quiet phase can often be just as lucrative as the campaign's actual public stage, Strand said.
Strand noted that universities typically raise 40 to 60 percent, or a "significant percentage," of their target during the quiet phase.
The quiet phase is when "you need to find the big idea of the campaign," Strand said.
For Penn officials, that means making sure that the University's "priorities are resonating with our alumni and friends," Gutmann said.
She said those priorities include financial aid, faculty support and new facilities, including a planned college house on Hill Field and several such science buildings.
Gutmann said that specific programs like Penn Integrates Knowledge, which funds interdisciplinary professorships, have been particularly resonant with alumni because they can literally see the impact their donation makes with each new hire.
Strand likewise pointed out that these early pledges give donors a personal stake in the fate of the campaign.
"It's a way of giving ownership to people who can make it work," Strand said.
In addition, the quiet phase is typically when the University receives several large gifts, said University Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations John Zeller.
These gifts include sizeable donations from Board of Trustees member George Weiss's $14 million donation in fall 2005 and a $12 million gift from David Silfen, also a Trustee, last March.
Another advantage of the quiet phase is that it allows a campaign to build momentum.
"It gives the university an opportunity to create a bandwagon effect," Strand said. "No one wants to participate unless it looks like it will be a success."
Strand added that the time also lets universities make sure their goals are economically realistic while using other institutions' goals to gauge their own.
"There certainly is a standard to meet," she said, although "it's not a bidding war to see who can raise the most."
Still, it's unlikely that the fundraising frenzy will ever stop.
"You're either in a campaign, planning a campaign or just finishing a campaign," Zeller said.
