Forbes reports on new efforts by universities to use the American model and tap wealthy alumni for funding:
Fresh from visits to eight American universities, including Berkeley, Liu is part of a flood of Chinese university officials eager to learn from successful fund-raising models there. As a vice president of Fudan’s education foundation, which will rake in over $16 million in gifts by the end of the month, after operating less than a year, Liu is working to foster a heretofore nonexistent “donation culture” among Chinese university graduates, many of whom are increasingly affluent as a result of their country’s economic growth.
To harvest private funding, Fudan must develop methods for tracking alumni and donors, cultivate strong, long-term relationships with them and rigorously canvas them for gifts. Like many Chinese university officials, Liu is starting from scratch.
