Securing a legacy to support a global analytics centre of excellence at Ulster University
Introduction
In 2014, under a new strategic plan led by the executive management team, the Development and Alumni Relations Office agreed its key fundraising priorities were a revised and strategic approach to recruiting donors, to stewarding donors to ensure retention and increased affinity and to securing high-level gifts. This approach was agreed due to the fact that their donor base was low while recognising the need to demonstrate the impact of philanthropy in a significant way. Their fundraising team responsible for implementing this strategy consisted of a Head of Fundraising, a Development Manager (responsible for donor recruitment, mainly via their annual fund (Ulster University Student Fund), a Prospect Researcher and a Development Assistant. They ensured a 270 per cent increase in donor numbers, significant improvement in donor retention and the University’s best performing year for philanthropy with just over £6m secured in 2017–18. This included a £5m gift by Angela Moore as a legacy to her husband’s ground-breaking work in the field of data analytics.
The gift will support the endowed Dr. George Moore Chair in Data Analytics and an associated research programme, based at the University’s Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) at their Magee campus in Derry. The Chair will lead an innovative research team responding dynamically to the real-world needs of data analytics.
Donor engagement
Following an introduction with the donor, the team identified the potential affinity with data analytics, given Dr. George Moore’s work in this field, as well as his interest in supporting Higher Education in Ireland. Dr. Moore, born in County Louth, left Ireland in 1972 and established Targus Information, a world leading data analytics service provider, whose technologies are used by many Fortune 500 companies. A visionary businessman, Dr. Moore predicted the explosion of information that would follow the creation of the internet and his genius was to recognise the commercial value of harnessing this information though data analytics.
Across Ulster University there are already over 60 academics contributing to research in artificial intelligence and data analytics. In March 2017, the University committed a further £4m to the development of Northern Ireland’s first centre targeted on data analytics. Recent investments at Ulster University aligned with the work of the Cognitive Analytics Research Lab include £11m in the Centre for Stratified Medicine, £5m in Functional Brain Mapping facility, €4.5m in Meaningful Integration of Data, Analytics and Services, £1m in Capital Markets Collaboration and €8.6m funding for the Centre for Precision Medicine — using data to improve Clinical Decision Making and Patient Safety.
Angela Moore, the donor, is mainly US-based, so as well as ensuring regular contact, a critical part of this approach involved her visit to the Magee campus to see the work of the ISRC and hear more about their ambitions with regards to galvanising their position as a world-leader in data analytics. This involved a meeting directly with the Vice-Chancellor.
She was able to better understand the university’s ambitions and how a gift would help them realise these ambitions. The global potential to revolutionise global data analytics research, enabled through a legacy of this scale and associated to Dr. Moore, a trailblazer in data analytics, was vast. The Chair position would build on the University’s 20-year track record of research excellence in intelligent systems.
This focus demonstrated clearly Ulster University’s commitment to this field, and the fact that a £5m gift had a significant strategic contribution to developing their expertise in this area.
“This is a field that George was a leader in back in his day, and it is a great fit that the University has an established reputation as a global leader in revolutionizing data analytics research and impact. This is a university that is willing to take risks, to be brave and to innovate. It is for all of these reasons I chose to make an investment in memory of George. I understand that philanthropy is very important so universities are able to enhance their work and realise their ambitions. I believe it is important for all of us, big and small, to give back and pay it forward.” — Angela Moore
Top tips
- The project must be a strategic priority for the University, ideally not donor-led — the case for support can then be clearly articulated as supporting a priority area in which the University has invested and to which the University has committed; the value of the gift to enhancing their impact can then be outlined clearly;
- The fact that the gift is supporting a University priority ensures that the project is subsequently driven by the academic staff — they need to lead and drive the work and ensure the impact is maximised hence it is critical that it supports an existing priority. In this case, academic staff assisted in showcasing the work of the university, particularly, Professor Liam Maguire, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment;
- Involvement of key staff at regular points, particularly involving the Vice-Chancellor is crucial — Eddie Friel, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, led the approach, involving Ulster University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Paddy Nixon. Caroline Armstrong, Head of Fundraising, was involved in agreeing the approach and developing the proposal, with Alison Snookes, Head of Development Services, finalising with the development of the agreement and stewardship plan.
- Visit to the University to witness first-hand the work and hear about the impact of investment;
- Identification of a meaningful proposal which resonates with the donor.
You can hear more on legacy giving from a line-up of speakers at this year’s CASE Europe Annual Conference in Birmingham on 27–29 August 2019. View the full programme here.
Caroline Armstrong, Deputy Director (Fundraising), Ulster University
