The launch of the UNM Foundation’s fundraising campaign next fall will coincide with a transition of the organization’s administration.
Foundation President John Stropp announced Friday that he plans to retire at the end of this fiscal year, after a replacement is found and trained for his position.
In January, the Foundation should launch a nationwide search for a replacement who can take over the campaign, Stropp said.
Stropp, 65, became Foundation president in June 2008. He said the choice to retire was his own.
“It needs to be said that nobody influenced me in this direction in any way or pushed me,” he said. “I can only say that I’ve had the greatest amount of cooperation. I’m a little tired and I’m ready to maybe move down the road to something else. You never know how much time you’ve got left. But I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
When Stropp became president last year, the Foundation became independent from the University. Stropp said the fundraising organization is now well on its way in developing a public campaign.
“If I was not probably going to stay for two to three years into the campaign, it would be better for me to announce well in advance so that there are no surprises and to allow for a responsible, orderly transition for new long-term leadership,” Stropp said. “I’m still on the job, and I won’t go anywhere through the fiscal year end. (It’s) necessary to get the right person in this job to ensure continuity. I won’t be leaving. There won’t be any interim.”
In a statement Monday, President David Schmidly told the Daily Lobo that Stropp’s achievements as Foundation president have benefitted the whole University.
“John has accomplished what he set out to do for us — evolve the UNM Foundation into an independent organization, oversee record years of fundraising and prepare for a major comprehensive campaign,” Schmidly said. “We expect he will continue to accomplish great things for UNM until next summer and his most deserved retirement.”
Stropp said the development of the UNM Foundation was a worthwhile endeavor.
“It was a great challenge and a way to end my career,” he said. “It was a two-phased initiative.”
In a University-wide statement from the UNM Foundation, a Foundation representative said that the first phase of Stropp’s Foundation goals is complete. The first phase required transitioning the 100-person fundraising staff from the University to a nonprofit corporation.
Stropp said that in the coming years, private foundations will be much more important to universities.
“The fact is, the need for private fundraising is going to take on even more importance if the state is not going to be able to provide more funding. (If), in fact, they are going to have to cut back over the next few years, then the need for private funding is going to be more important,” he said.
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The second phase of Stropp’s mission, to develop a major public fundraising campaign, will be in place by next summer, Stropp said.
“This campaign is, frankly, playing the part of a galvanizing force to help to focus everybody in the University on one common goal in the next four years,” he said.
Stropp said the campaign’s development is on schedule and will be in its final stages before he steps down.
“(The campaign will achieve) an amount beyond the $500 million we announced,” he said.
Other nonprofit foundations estimate that 2010 will be a much more difficult year from a fundraising standpoint despite the changing economy, Stropp said.
“From what we can gather talking to our peer nonprofits, ultimately, this may be a tougher year than even that last to raise money,” he said. “I’m here to tell you we are now ahead a few million dollars of our record-setting year going into the calendar year.”
Before he steps down, Stropp said he will continue to work on development and fundraising.
“We’ve got enough time to ensure that I finish the body of work that I’ve started,” he said. “We’ll get another person on board and we’ll have an overlap, and that person fully understands the mandate and is a person that is able to work in this system. We’ll go through a heavy vetting process where people from the University, the board, from the community will all have an opportunity to look at our final candidate and ensure we’ve got the profile of the right person to ensure continuity.”
