Rudenstine on the Issues

"Before I would think about fundraising, I guess you would think about what you want to raise the funds for. The real test there is to consult broadly enough and listen hard enough and obviously contribute to the discussion, help to lead it, and really try to decide what's going to be necessary not just three of five or eight years but 10 or 15 years from now. Intellectually, humanly and otherwise in the institution, who do we really want to serve; what are the priorities; what are the needs and what will it cost? When you've figured that out, and that's a good couple of years, then you know what you're going to raise the money for. The raising of money is terribly important as a process, but you're able to succeed at it--if you succeed at it--because you know why you're doing it and why it's important. There are a lot of things to do, but I guess I don't see it as a balance of this against that. Indeed, I see it as an integration... It's not one against the other, it's one leading right straight through to the other and creating an agenda for the institution."