Kathryn Davidson, Philanthropy Director, Lakehead University
Josh Levac, Associate Registrar, Student Awards and Financial Aid, Lakehead University
Canadian post-secondary philanthropy departments play an important role in helping to fund many of the projects that their institutions undertake. One major component is the solicitation of funding from donors to help establish scholarships, bursaries and awards. In many cases the responsible departments are silos, understanding only their work, and the lack of communication can result in frustrated employees and donors. Over the past 5 years, Lakehead University has started to break down our interoffice barriers, communicate, and develop an internal methodology that can help other siloed institutions to develop synergies and create an open dialogue and understanding of processes.