U-Va. Drive May Raise Stakes for Fundraising

Fundraisers start with the records of 180,000 alumni. They hone their list using tools including demographic screening software that shows neighborhoods by income, the cars people drive, and so on. They look up public information, such as stock and real estate and holdings. A traveling development officer might ask for "road warrior sheets," summaries of all prospects for $500,000 or more in a city, and then ask U-Va. volunteers in the region about them.

Here's how it plays out, Sweeney said:

"He's an alum. Let's go back, look at his giving record. He's given $125 a year. Has not come back to reunions." Brightening, Sweeney continues: "He was a member of the university guides and lived on the Lawn. Wow! Then do demographic data -- let's look at stock holdings. Does he show up in investment data? Then look up his company. He works for Blue Ridge Capital. Oh, my God! Blue Ridge Capital are venture capitalists. Then we'll go and Google Blue Ridge Capital. Lo and behold, they've been involved in X number of ventures, taken three of them public . . . now worth $850 million!

"Some of these are private. Can we figure out what so-and-so might have gotten out of that? We might talk to others in investment banking or hedge funds or venture capital, alums now involved with us. 'Do you know so-and-so?'

"Someone will say, 'I'm betting they're worth $250 million.' "

Then the hard part. The guy's worth $250 million, and he has given $125 to U-Va.

"Either we've done a lousy job of communicating with them," Sweeney said, "or they're not interested."

Then fundraisers start trying to get appointments.

They don't ask for money. They start by asking how the alumnus feels about the university. Sometimes they invite people to weekend gatherings, on Martha's Vineyard or in Park City, Utah, to talk about the university's future.

Often, when calling on people, they'll hear: " 'My partner is Class of '81. If you think I've done well, this guy has knocked the cover off the ball! Let me see if he's in.' That happens again and again," Sweeney said. "All of a sudden, you've got all these networks evolving."

So the database keeps getting bigger and more detailed. Fundraisers identify 20,000 prospects who might give $10,000 or more. Eleven hundred people who might give $1 million or more. Four hundred who could make the top 100 gifts. And 100 who are known as presidential prospects -- any overtures to them have to be approved through Casteen's office.

Such as the man who recently donated almost $50 million for a new arena, Sweeney said. "We don't want people having sporadic, willy-nilly contact. He could be an institutional asset for hundreds of millions of dollars, for 40 years, a relationship enriching him and the University of Virginia for another generation."

During the last campaign, the original goal of $750 million was raised to $1 billion. The school exceeded that, so the bar was raised, said Jenny Wyss-Jones, assistant campaign director.

Even success boosts the pressure. Sweeney said he has heard talk that $3 billion "isn't enough to get us where we need to go."