Delia de Vreeze is director of alumni relations and funds at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. In this position, she is responsible for developing the fundraising and alumni strategies for the institution. De Vreeze previously served as international marketing manager for Wageningen UR. She is a graduate of Christelijke Hogeschool Nederland in Holland and an active member of CASE. Currently, she is serving as chair of a conference on alumni relations and fundraising that takes place April 25-26 in the Netherlands.

You have responsibilities for both fundraising and alumni relations. How have you successfully integrated the two functions?

Having both responsibilities within one department makes it possible to integrate and facilitate friendraising before fundraising. I also believe that communications from one department gives a clearer message to our alumni.

Fundraising is relatively new in the Netherlands so having separate fundraising and relationship-building activities would not make sense to our alumni. And I don't believe we would be successful without both functions in one department.

The team consists of one major donor campaign fundraiser, one regular giving fundraiser, one database officer, one project manager, one alumni officer, one jubilee officer and one secretary.

The danger with separating responsibilities is that integrating alumni and fundraising activities is sometimes forgotten. The main goal for the future is to integrate the policy and activities.

You also have a background in marketing. How has this experience helped you in your work?

Having marketing experience—understanding what customers require and thinking from their point of view—is key in this job. The important thing in marketing is making decisions on what your target group needs and not what the organization wants to communicate. This also applies to alumni relations and fundraising. The key is knowing how to build relationships, both in international marketing, student recruitment and within this department.

Tell us about one of your campaigns.

In 2010, we started a major donor campaign, "Food for Thought: Thought for Food," to raise funds for nine research projects that would otherwise not be funded. The goal is to raise 15 million euros by 2015. At present, we are already two-thirds toward this goal. This year, we will start to develop a new major campaign, starting in 2015.

What are some of the challenges of advancement work at your institution?

After a successful first year of our major donor campaign, the fundraising committee and executive board expect the same amount to be raised in the years to come. We have to help them understand that the success of this campaign was because of a long-term strategy and investment in all areas—and not just major donor campaigning. That is easily forgotten.

Describe the current environment in your country with respect to educational fundraising and alumni relations.

Alumni are becoming more and more receptive to giving to higher education. At present, higher education institutes in the Netherlands are publicly funded, which makes it less urgent and necessary for people to give to higher education. However, that is slowly changing. For example, giving to scholarships is becoming more popular, and people are starting to realize that giving to higher education is another way of contributing to civil society. I believe that within 10 years' time, it will be become more relevant for higher education institutions to focus on gifts from private donors.

How has CASE membership influenced your career?

It has influenced my career tremendously. I realized how extremely inspiring and varied advancement work was after I participated in CASE Europe's Spring Institute. This field is about building relationships, marketing and communicating with alumni, researchers and influencers at the university. This, along with the important role advancement plays in the strategy of the university, the day-to-day job and listening to the amazing stories on why people give are extremely inspiring. And it's irrelevant whether someone gives 100 euros or 2.5 million. The reason behind why people give really makes the difference. It makes me proud to know that our department plays a tiny role in making this difference and in meeting our Wageningen UR mission: to improve the quality of life.

This article is from the March 2013 issue of BriefCASE.
Please share your questions and comments with Pam Russell via e-mail at russell@case.org or by telephone at +1-202-478-5680.