Featuring:
David Palmer, Vice-President, Advancement, University of Toronto and Trevor Rogers, Chief Financial Officer, of the University of Toronto

Partnership and collaboration among senior university leaders that helps foster a culture of philanthropy and drives growth in fundraising and engagement

Transformational growth in fundraising and engagement does not come without significant budgetary investment. In an environment of increasingly tight financial constraints and intense internal competition for available dollars, finding such investment with operating budgets is often a non-starter. To meet this challenge, the University of Toronto recently re-introduced assessments on endowment distributions and expendable gifts, under the Advancement Investment Model (AIM).

The AIM model has also served as the basis for discussion of a national best practice guideline on the use of gift fees presented to and endorsed by senior advancement leaders at the CCAE National Conference in May 2024. This guideline describes principles and parameters for the successful implementation of such fees within educational institutions.

In this session, the University of Toronto’s Vice-President of Advancement, David Palmer and CFO, Trevor Rogers discuss the genesis of the AIM model and the important role that senior university leaders play in supporting a positive, productive, and growth-oriented culture of advancement that enables the pursuit of transformation growth in fundraising and engagement.

Supporting documents:
Deepening the Impact of Advancement at the University of Toronto
Guiding Principles on Supplemental Funding Sources for Advancement
University of Toronto AIM Model
CCAE AGM Presentation: Guiding Principles on Supplemental Funding Sources for Advancement