As its economy booms and its youths descend on Western campuses in ever-greater numbers, China has become a target of fund raisers at Western colleges.
Speaking on Monday at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Summit for Leaders in Advancement, a pair of university administrators illustrated the opportunities and pitfalls of fund raising in China for college officials looking to make inroads in the country.
Many Western universities have well-established ties with donors in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other places in Asia from which they have long drawn students. But China’s emergence as the world’s second-largest economy and a spike in the number of Chinese students on American campuses have put the country on fund raisers’ radars in recent years, said Eden Woon, vice president for institutional advancement at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
But Marc L. Weinstein, vice principal for development and alumni relations at McGill University, in Montreal, cautioned that though China is a relatively untapped market, it is a difficult one for Western fund raisers to break into. University presidents who are not willing to visit Asia at least once a year shouldn’t bother entering the race, he said.
“I’m here to tell you bluntly that this is a long-term process that requires a lot of patience,” Mr. Weinstein said.
Before the Chinese economy skyrocketed, the Chinese government supported its residents “from womb to tomb,” Mr. Woon said. Thus, the culture of philanthropy there is only just emerging.
Newly wealthy Chinese who are considering making a gift feel conflicting cultural pulls, Mr. Woon explained. Economists predict that China will be the world’s largest market for luxury goods by 2015, and many prosperous citizens are tempted to flaunt their wealth. Yet some Chinese donors request anonymity, perhaps heeding a traditional Chinese proverb: “A big tree attracts the gale.”
“They feel a sense of unease in being high-profile, generous donors,” Mr. Woon said.
That tension requires Western fund raisers to take a distinct approach in China, where deals are made or broken by personal connections, Mr. Weinstein said. Several of McGill’s biggest donors in China would not have given to the university if the president had not been present at the signing of the papers, he noted.
“Annual-giving campaigns are not successful with Chinese alumni. And phonathons? Forget it,” Mr. Weinstein said. “All our gifts have come from personal appeals.”
With rankings carrying particular weight in Asia, Chinese alumni are more swayed to give to their alma mater when they are reminded of its prestige, Mr. Weinstein said. On an early trip to the region, McGill administrators circulated a simple leaflet that did not have much of an effect on would-be Chinese donors.
“Brand recognition is really significant in the community,” Mr. Weinstein said. “The shinier your promotional materials, the better. Gloss it up.”
Perhaps most challenging to Western fund raisers is Chinese donors’ desire to support local causes. The vast majority of charitable giving by Asian donors remains in the region, with just 4 percent going to causes overseas in 2011, according to a UBS-Insead study on family philanthropy in Asia.
McGill is most successful when it appeals to donors with a project that has a local tie, Mr. Weinstein said.
“They want to feel,” he said, “like they’re getting something back in return.”