Interview with Professor Iain Martin, Vice-Chancellor Deakin University and Jimmy Buck, Chief Advancement Officer
Working together to forge philanthropic partnerships that foster the Margin of Excellence at Deakin University and Make Good Into Great.
Cairney Conversations have travelled far and wide this month, speaking with two senior members of Deakin University in Victoria, Australia. We were lucky enough to get time with Professor Iain Martin, Vice-Chancellor, and Jimmy Buck, Chief Advancement Officer.
Iain and Jimmy both joined Deakin in 2019, and between them their careers cover education in the US, UK, New Zealand, and Australia. For both Iain and Jimmy, philanthropy is critical to creating a “margin of excellence” at Deakin. They have already forged a strong and successful partnership where alumni, donors and the community are central to Deakin’s mission now and in the future.
We discussed how philanthropy and Iain’s leadership during COVID-19 are ensuring a sustainable future for Deakin.
Philanthropy and advancement of educational institutions has played a critical role in your previous roles. As Deakin develops its future strategic direction what role will philanthropy and advancement play in the growth plans and ambitions of the university?
Iain: They are the tools that mean we can build a stronger margin of excellence at Deakin. Jimmy and I have always felt philanthropy, advancement and alumni relations as pivotal to the future of the University. Philanthropy especially is what can make good, great. From supporting early career researchers to get established, to connecting with influencers who open up networks and enhance our role in the community, it’s about cementing the University in a sense of place. It’s about why we exist and how we engage with people.
Jimmy: I think traditionally, universities are often seen as an ivory tower up on the hill. But philanthropy opens up the University to the broader community. We believe we are an integral part of community life, and philanthropy and advancement are a big part of serving this community over and above those who study or work here. Advancement is not just about the dollars. It’s about supporting Deakin to drive its mission forward and add value to research, teaching, and our knowledge base. Our work is helping to advance the community and move the university forward. It’s about partnership with others inside and outside of the University and we have the fortunate position of marrying the two together.
We often talk about the need to create a ‘culture of philanthropy’ within institutions in order for fundraising to flourish. What are the most significant changes that you think universities will need to make in the future in order for philanthropy to reach its potential?
Iain: Because culture is where things happen without thinking about it, philanthropy needs to be woven into the mission of the University. It has to be part of what we all do. We can be guilty of assuming people outside of advancement understand as much as us, but they don’t. A culture of philanthropy allows people who are not close to the University to understand why what we do is important and why giving back matters. You have to build it into your institution lock, stock and barrel, it is part of your DNA.
Jimmy: It has to be a partnership between advancement and the academics and Deakin is very much open to that. We’re lucky that our academics are curious and keen to be engaged because they can see the potential in being able to talk about their work and its impact on society and on individuals.
Jimmy, you mention in your interview on Deakin’s website that you are “often faced with the outdated myth that Australians don’t have a culture of philanthropy,” and that you believe there is a culture of giving in Australia but it is unique. What is unique about it?
I think Australian philanthropy can be less conspicuous than in the US or the UK. It feels more community minded. The tremendous amounts raised to support the Royal Fire Service during the bush fires is a great example of reactionary philanthropy. But what if we had put that money into climate change research 30 years ago that prevented the fires? The next step for Australian philanthropy is working together to be more proactive.
We need to make a clear connection between the future of the community and the role Deakin will play in that future. People often say why would I donate to a University? It doesn’t need my money; it’s funded by Government. We have to dispel these myths. It’s not about donating to the University. It’s about donating to something that you care about and the University is the vehicle.
The conversation about philanthropy has to change. It’s not about plugging a gap or repairing something that’s broken. Harvard raises hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They don’t need it to survive but instead to do really exciting work. It doesn’t stop people from supporting them. It's the same for us and we need to embrace this approach.
Iain: Deakin has been taken for granted as one of the major players in Geelong and Melbourne. With the current environment and the threat to the University it has sharpened people’s minds to get behind our work. COVID has really focussed the community as to why we are here, and we can see the potential in this emerging relationship.
Iain, given the current environment with COVID-19 what are some of the tough decisions you have had to make quickly as a VC to minimise the long-term impact on your organisation and ensure its viability and sustainability?
You have to start with the fact universities are here for a long time, hopefully centuries. We’ve got to have enough resilience for the future generations. One of my mentors' words keeps coming back to me during this crisis: “As a leader one of the most difficult things you have to do is to balance out what you can do now with what you must do for the future.” For most people the priority pressures are right now. Job uncertainty and challenges in the community are happening right now. But we have the job of balancing right now with future stability.
COVID has been a rolling series of decisions made on imperfect information, and many times I went home thinking “I hope I got this one right”. We had to make the best professional estimate of where we are going to be, making daily calls on everything from bringing people home from overseas, to moving the whole of teaching online. This is not a short-lived thing. The decisions we have made will shape Deakin, not only this year but for years to come.
Jimmy, how has philanthropy played a role prior to COVID-19 at Deakin and has this changed in the past two months and if so in what way?
I think the tough leadership decisions that were made early on have helped conversations with donors. They’ve seen what we’ve done and respect how difficult it’s been. We are seeing gifts from key players in our local area who have never donated before. They are choosing to start a philanthropic journey with us now because our leadership took decisive and early action. Iain and I haven’t been here long, and before COVID we were finding our feet. We now have a greater mandate to support the long-term future of the university.
Jimmy, we are told that there is still a shortage of the right talent to drive our programmes forward and that many institutions struggle to find and retain the talent they need. Is this the case in Australia and what should we be doing about this as a profession?
Demand was certainly outstripping the supply but I think supply is catching up. Ten or fifteen years ago if you wanted to do a really big fundraising campaign, you’d just hire someone from the US or the UK as a quick solution. Now we’ve got a decade’s worth of professionals who have been learning how to do it well and now they’re teaching others. Part of the challenge prior to COVID was retention. People would excel at what they were doing, but then leave for other opportunities. I think COVID will balance that out and we can grow more of our own talent.
When we look at the progress made in advancement across Australian HE, we in Europe are often deeply impressed. Change seems to have happened rapidly – perhaps more quickly than in the UK. Do you agree, and if so, what has driven this rapid development?
Iain: I think there’s a couple of key reasons. Most Australians attend their local university, for example, over 90% of Victorian students will go to a Victorian university, so students have a longer and deeper relationship with the place and that can help. Also, Australia is now very much a Pacific country with an Asia Pacific and a North American focus. Perhaps 50 years ago, Australia was looking back to the UK as the mother country but that’s changed. There is probably a greater influence of US culture here, so I think actually, Australia has developed this unique Asia Pacific / US linkage.
Jimmy: When I arrived here 11 years ago, some of the older, bigger Universities were starting to take fundraising seriously. We’ve been lucky enough to quickly learn lessons that took the UK decades to learn from the US, and we’ve leapfrogged the UK in some of those issues. There’s also a greater appetite for philanthropy in Australia, perhaps because we have fewer universities and to Iain’s point, are not as disparate as some institutions overseas.
What role do you want philanthropy to play in the ambitions for Deakin University and what is the appetite of the academic community to both want to be involved and to see the value in it?
Iain: Even though we initially had a patchy response from our academic community, when we reached out people definitely engaged. Jimmy ran a workshop for over 100 leaders across the institution and there was a huge amount of excitement in the session and a lot of follow up as well. There is appetite to get involved but the skill base is perhaps not there yet.
Jimmy: Now what we face is keeping up with that appetite and developing the skills of the academics who are having the conversations with donors. We’re lucky that we don’t need to convince academics that philanthropy is important, and so can focus on developing their skills and confidence to make them even more effective.
Alumni and development teams have had to pivot in a way they’ve never had to before, and our profession has evolved quickly over the last few months whereby traditional methods of engagement have taken a back seat and technology has moved more to the forefront. What does future engagement look like with alumni and what role will they play in the development of Deakin’s ambitions?
Jimmy: As a young University we have so much opportunity. It is a challenge and a strength. We need to grow strong, reciprocal relationships with our alumni because they’re our largest stakeholder group. Our alumni add unique value to the Deakin proposition whether as donors, continuing to study with us, sending their kids here or hiring our students. We need to explore and develop these very practical ways of strengthening ties. It’s about us staying connected and them getting involved. Graduates adding value back to the University is definitely a core driver.
Iain, there have been some tough decisions that you and the Executive Team have made that have impacted on the availability of resources at this time. How will you ensure that advancement remains at the forefront of Deakin’s future in a time of competing institutional priorities?
We will face lots of challenges ahead of restricted government funding and philanthropy has and will continue to play a role. It’s that simple. We need to keep raising funds and growing our network of friends and influencers who can give back to the University. Of course, during COVID, we are having to cut our cloth accordingly, but like we said, it’s not just about right now. We need to ensure the future success of Deakin. And this is where an advancement function gives us that margin of excellence, the icing on the cake, the good to great.
Jimmy, in your conversations with donors during this time what are you hearing from them that may impact on the role philanthropy will play at Deakin but also the overall impact on giving?
We’ve been focussing more on growing our conversations with individuals because many institutional and organisational donors are reflecting on what their priorities are. We spoke to 150 donors who gave to a recent appeal to say thank you and one of the recurring themes was that they wished that they could have given more. With larger major gift donors, it’s more about timing based on individual situations. We haven’t seen a slowdown in the number of conversations we’re having, if anything we are actually able to communicate with more people.
Looking to the year ahead, what would be your one piece of advice to advancement teams and professionals who may be struggling to demonstrate their institutional value?
Iain: Jimmy and the team have done brilliantly in terms of focussing on what really matters and putting the effort towards that. And you need that focus more than anything. Look at your portfolio of activities and really think how your team can best contribute. Right now, it’s not about a nice flashy alumni event, or lavishly entertaining a potential donor. It's about getting everyone behind the core business of the University to make the most impact.
Jimmy: Don’t be afraid of asking. If we can’t ask for support now at our greatest time of need, when can we? Be brave. Have the conversation but be respectful of circumstances. Helping others is hardwired in our DNA. Give people an opportunity to help and we give donors a positive experience and we also benefit.
Higher education across the globe has been impacted significantly due to COVID-19. What do you believe to be the one major change we will see across the HE landscape in the next three years?
The effect of the pandemic on our behaviour and traditional systems has to make us rethink the purpose and value of a university campus. We have managed to pivot to a digital teaching environment and we did it quickly and pretty well. So how does the campus environment complement what we can now do digitally? Is it a blended university model, achieving excellence from our digital and physical environments, seamlessly moving between the two? I think that will be the legacy of the last six months.