Pakistan needs to invest highly
and commits it funds make high quality education accessible to all of its young
people and thereby enable the nation to be a competitive player in the global
economy. A continuous upgrading of the curricula towards a broad-based education
that includes intarnship and entrepreneurship training is required.
All these initiatives coupled with the need to attract and maintain world-class
faculty, state of the art labs and new programmes require spending several fold
more than the existing budget.
Pakistan needs to increase its current participation rate of five per cent of
the 17-24 year age group enrolment in a college or university to at least 50 per
cent to achieve the level of developed countries. The government allocated
budgets alone are unlikely to be sufficient in the foreseeable future to achieve
the required growth at public universities which cater to a large majority of
students. It is therefore time that the universities take a leading role and
establish and expand as rapidly as possible endowment funds that can be utilised
to meet the goal.
Colleges and universities must become familiar with and practice the art and
science of fundraising to ensure a sustainable future for the increasing number
of young people seeking education. Programmes such as the Student Advancement
Fund Endowments (SAFEs) and the Student Start-up Business Centres (SSBCs) can
remake the future of colleges/universities and Pakistani society, but they
require understanding, cultivation and commitment on a policy level as well as a
fiscal one.
Act now!
Raising funds for any programme, and especially for higher education, is
challenging. It is even more daunting for public universities, where the world
of business is a foreign concept due to a long dependency on the governmental
budget. It is time for educational institutions to start working towards
financial stability and independence (see “Education expenses: financial aid”
Dawn, July 3, 2011). The SAFEs and SSBCs (see “Student entrepreneurship” Dawn,
Feb 8, 2012) offer great examples of strategic planning and institutions acting
to ensure access to quality education for students, especially those from
economically disadvantaged families, and support student start-up businesses and
initiatives.
The success of these models depends on the fast growth of the principal of an
endowment, thus giving institutions more funds to use each year incrementally.
However, the mechanisms for growing the fund must be in place and followed-up
religiously. For the endowment fund to work well, at least one-half of the
capital gains must be reinvested with the principal. The other half can be used
to support programmes. Thus the principal amount of the endowment fund must be
quite significant for the gains to be large enough to support more student
fellowships and other capacity building programmes of the university. It is
unrealistic to expect a big check each year from a generous donor to make the
endowment fund work for the university. Instead, a strategic plan must be laid
out to raise funds tirelessly, all year round, and with the assistance and
participation of everyone even remotely related to the cause.
Approaches, styles and models
Colleges/universities can raise funds for their student endowment funds by
applying various approaches, styles and models. The most successful strategies
may be published, recorded and used on the next fundraising campaign and
repeated every year by the next team of fund seekers.
Each member of the fundraising team, must, however, have a very good
understanding of the donor, his or her motivation, a goal for the amount to be
asked and a clear message to deliver. A successful fundraiser is able to
skillfully cultivate positive relationships with donors and partners. People
support programmes that are significant and make a difference in others’ lives
and this is a message that must become the mantra when asking for donations.
Everyone involved can have his/her own style, but can also utilise some general
guidelines to achieve successful fundraising (see guidelines from the training
workshop at https://pepfoundation.org/0512workshop_index.html).
Teamwork
Higher education institutions are positioned ideally to take advantage of the
vast number of students they admit, graduate and the vast number of connections
they create via their students, alumni, businesses, and communities.
Colleges/universities must involve their students in the fundraising process.
When putting in the time and effort to raise funds, perhaps students can earn
credits for civic education courses. The most successful practices may be
recognised and may become the norm. The science of fundraising is recognising
the power and the strength of numbers. By enlisting the participation of
students, alumni, non-alumni individuals, businesses, foundations/non-profits
and local communities, Pakistani colleges and universities can raise a large
amount of funds in a short time, and periodically fundraise for specific causes.
Everyone must act now and make the difference of a lifetime!
More and better-educated students will bring more prosperity.