
Chapter 04 : The Development Office: Management Changes, Working with Faculty Gifts, and Thoughts on Ronald DePinho
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Description
Mr. Mulvey sketches initiatives he took as Director of Development to expand the Office.
He observes that, in the eighties, he and his team were coming to understand what a fundraising office could do for the institution and undertook methodical growth, also gathering evidence to demonstrate good return on the investment of philanthropic dollars.
Mr. Mulvey then describes the process of gaining the trust of faculty members who had attracted philanthropic investment in their work. He notes that mechanisms are now in place for faculty to partner with a fundraiser.
Mr. Mulvey then talks about the role of fundraising since Dr. Ronald DePinho took over as the institution’s fourth president. He notes that Dr. DePinho is an experienced fundraiser with a bold vision for the institution and for development.
Identifier
MulveyP_01_20150511_C04
Publication Date
5-11-2015
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Topics Covered
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - An Institutional Unit; On Philanthropy and Volunteerism; Donations, Gifts, Contributions; Professional Practice; MD Anderson History; Portraits; Building/Transforming the Institution; Growth and/or Change; Discovery and Success; The Business of MD Anderson; The MD Anderson Brand, Reputation; Research, Care, and Education; Donations, Gifts, Contributions
Transcript
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Mm-hmm. Tell me about some other initiatives that you worked on. Oh, well, I guess maybe I should ask you, there have been some changes in your title, obviously, since you arrived in 1985. So, you became director of development services in 1986. And then, in 1989, you became director of development. So, two changes. And I’m curious of—at that point, with those changes in title, how your view on the power of the office changed, and any significant kind of initiatives that you took to develop the inst—the office at that time, at those moments.
Patrick Mulvey:
Well, there was—the was—there were some management changes during those times, too. Andrea Morgan, who was director of development, left about six months after I arrived, and Dr. Joe Painter oversaw the development operation for a while there. And they brought in a gentleman to be executive director of the University Cancer Foundation, Don Squibb. And Don and I had a very, very close working relationship. He came out of banking, and didn’t have a whole lot of background in development, but had a great background in executive banking and that type of leadership there. So, we developed a very, very strong working relationship, and built the program. And during that time, I got to work much, much closer with Dr. LeMaistre, as you can imagine. And then, when Don left, then that’s when they began to call on me to take on some leadership positions. But we had grown the insti—the office over all of those years. And then, when I took over, the—we really—you know, those positions, that’s when we really began to understand the depth and the breadth of what a major fundraising office could be for the institution. And working closely with Dr. LeMaistre, we talked about what we wanted this office to be, and what we wanted it to be able to provide to the institution. And then, began to develop the working plans and the business plans around that, to make it what it became.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And how did you talk about it at that time? I mean, when you were in conversation with Dr. LeMaistre, I mean, what was it—what was the vision you presented to him?
Patrick Mulvey:
Well, the vision was—is to—is to create a professional organization that had, at its focus, the target of philanthropic dollars coming into this institution to fund those elements of his—the strategic plan that he felt most important to advance the institution. And then we could do these things—this on a number of levels that you and I have discussed here in the last fifty or so minutes. And then, we just began to form that office, and growing—grow it very methodically, and always looking, and always being able to present, in a convincing way, the return on investment that the institution was making in us it related to—and then working closely with the faculty to see to it that they understood what the role of development was; that they played an important part in that development, and that it would be a true partnership to achieve all the targets that we set for ourselves.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Tell me about working with the faculty. What did—was that kind of a new thing for the Development Office to do at that time?
Patrick Mulvey:
You know, the—probably the most important thing that we had to do when—this being the late ’80s, was to gain the trust of the faculty as it relates to prospects that they would consider theirs. Meaning that, if we were gonna go and work with the faculty and said, okay, well, tell us about Mrs. Jones or something of that sort, and go raise money from Mrs. Jones, it was important that it got back to Dr. Smith. And that wasn’t always the case in—beforehand. And so, we went about making sure that the faculty was a true partner in building this program, and that we would—we would deliver what we promised, and that they would not be left out of that equation. And over time, that credibility grew, and we take it very seriously here today. And because of that, I think that that’s one of the real reasons for our success.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Interesting. So, I mean, I really have no idea how such a process would work. I mean, are there institutional rules? I mean, if a patient or family member of a patient approaches a particular physician and says, “I would like to support your research philanthropically,” is the faculty member obliged to contact your office and report that? I mean, how does that all—how do you find out?
Patrick Mulvey:
They’re not obliged to, but we weren’t trained to be physicians and they weren’t trained to ask for money, you know? And so, it’s a real strong partnership. And most faculty—and we even trained faculty today—have training sessions to go over this with them, on how to do these things. But they know that giving to their program, in all likelihood, will be enhanced if they bring a development officer into the equation. And so, it’s to their benefit to do that. Plus, they don’t have the time to do this. And, plus if this is one of their patients, they may feel a bit awkward about it. And so, let somebody else speak for them, and let somebody else facilitate that for them. So, when Mrs. Jones comes and says, “Dr. Smith, I’m so happy with what you’ve done. What can I do to repay you?” Many times they now know it’s, “I have some important research going on, and could I have somebody from the Development Office call you?”
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Oh, I see. Okay.
Patrick Mulvey:
But that kind of relationship builds over time, and it builds in a deliberate fashion. And we take that very seriously.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Mm-hmm. So, as you’re telling me this story of these different dimensions of setting in place, as you said, growing very methodically and addressing all these different areas, I can see that you positioned yourself so when John Mendelsohn came in, in 1996, you had a kind of machine happening that was gonna be able to respond to this much broader vision of what the insti—of the Development Office could do, as the institution grow. What about changes now that Dr. [Ronald] DePinho has come in, and we have a change in administration?
Patrick Mulvey:
Well, I—you know, I think it mirrors the other two gentlemen, in that he now has a bold vision, and Anderson deserves a bold vision. I mean, this—you know, Anderson is not what it is today because of somebody not having those type of bold visions. And so, there was one under Dr. LeMaistre. There was one under Dr. Mendelsohn. And now we have this Moon Shots vision under Dr. DePinho. And it’s our business to go about developing that strategic vision of his, in a philanthropic manner, to be able to go out and secure the funds that are needed for that vision. And we’ve been successful. In the last two and a half years we’ve raised about $240 million for the Moon Shots Program. And it’s our target to try to raise about $100 million a year for it over the next few years. And so, I think that the public has received this very well, to think that, you know, you’ve got these Moon Shots that deal with eight cancers, and these platforms, and this organization that looks at life a little bit differently than it had before, as it is to MD Anderson. And people have embraced that bold vision. And so, I think he is very closely following in the footsteps of his predecessors in setting a tone for this institution that’s gonna take it to its next level.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
What is Dr. DePinho’s involvement in the development activities? I mean, you mentioned John Mendelsohn’s—
Patrick Mulvey:
Absolutely. He’s right—he’s right there in the middle of it, too. He’s a good fundraiser also. And he’s worked very closely with us to hone our business plan. He has continued to provide significant resources for the development operation. And he gives us a significant amount of his time, too, to go out all over this country to see those individuals that are—that need to be seen, to hear his vision, and then to share their resources with us. So, he’s become an excellent fundraiser in his own right, absolutely.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
So has that been a kind of learning curve for him, as well?
Patrick Mulvey:
I think that he was more educated in fundraising than Dr. Mendelsohn was, because of his work up at Dana-Farber, and with the Belfer Institute, and things of that sort. So I don’t know if—I don’t think he had as quite a strong a learning curve as Dr. Mendelsohn did.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Has he provided you with any insights about fundraising, I mean, in that partnership, as you have evolved a partnership with him? Have you learned something from him? [laughter]
Patrick Mulvey:
Think big. You know? Think big—that’s always—and that’s always good. And he challenges us, and that’s good too, you know? To take it to the next level—you know, the Nobel Prize business plan of a development office and things like that. So we’ve learned from him, absolutely, to be bold and to set out your strategic vision, and then to make sure that we put the resources that are necessary there to accomplish that, absolutely.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Now, when you say “the Nobel Prize business plan,” what—in what sense do you mean that? [laughs]
Patrick Mulvey:
Well, you know, just a—just a—the best business plan you can put together, you know?
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
[inaudible], yeah.
Patrick Mulvey:
Yeah.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Yeah.
Patrick Mulvey:
Yeah.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
That’s neat.
Patrick Mulvey:
Yeah.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, we’re almost at four o’clock.
Patrick Mulvey:
Okay, very good.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And I thank you for your time today.
Patrick Mulvey:
Well, my pleasure, too. Thank you for asking me those kind of questions and not—
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Sure.
Patrick Mulvey:
—other kinds of questions. I like talking about the institution much more than I do about anything else.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Sure. Well, I want to thank you for your time today—
Patrick Mulvey:
My pleasure.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
—Mr. Mulvey.
Patrick Mulvey:
Pleasure to meet you. Pleasure to meet you.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And I’m turning off—I’m turning off the recorder at 3:58.
Recommended Citation
Mulvey, Patrick and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 04 : The Development Office: Management Changes, Working with Faculty Gifts, and Thoughts on Ronald DePinho" (2015). Interview Chapters. 1190.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1190
Conditions Governing Access
Open
