In 2023, Texas Tech Health El Paso was approved by the state to receive funding to build a cancer center on our campus. When opened, this will be the only comprehensive cancer center in El Paso, nearly 300 miles south of the nearest existing cancer center in Albuquerque, and the only one in the nearly 1,000 mile stretch between Dallas and Tucson. The problem was that, beyond funds to construct the building, there was no other funding—for talent recruitment, for equipment, for patient services and support, for program development, for research. It has been left to our Institutional Advancement team (Development and Marketing-Communications), and other teams on campus (Research, Government Relations) not only to find additional funding but to begin the process of clarifying what funding is needed, how it will be used, and of course where it will come from.
Through a combination of marketing, grant writing, and direct personal appeals, we have, in a short time, raised nearly $35 million toward these purposes, over $30 million of which is private funding generated by Institutional Advancement. These gifts are headlined by a $25 million private donation to drive recruitment, planning and operating, as well as a $5 million operating grant. More broadly, they include a likely (though still pending) $1.2 million in equipment funds, nearly half a million dollars in future cancer patient support, and several hundred thousand in cancer screening funds.
The key to this windfall has been the strong working relationship and creative coordination between Institutional Advancement leadership, the university president, the Corporate Foundation Relations team, the Marketing/Communications team, and the Government Relations team.
This presentation will provide an overview of Institutional Advancement’s lead role in the coordination, explication, and appeals to individual and institutional donors and funders that have brought us here.

Deans, department chairs and faculty members are the insightful and articulate content-area experts development officers must partner with to identify prospects, cultivate relationships, develop strong proposals and make compelling solicitations. Moreover, faculty champions with strong relational skills make the advancement professional’s job of cultivating alumni and donors much more meaningful because of their authentic connection to the alumni and the work. While it is evident why strong faculty allies serve advancement professionals so well, it is often difficult to help deans, department chairs and faculty see themselves as partners in advancement work. In this session we will highlight how to plan an ‘Advancement School’ for your college’s leadership and faculty, provide tips for building a strong faculty/advancement partnership and share data on how leveraging faculty in a meaningful way accelerates relationship building with prospects and increases the likelihood of closing a gift.