Next Steps for Development at Jesus

Philippa Roberts
Director of Development

 

Since I joined in July 2008, I have talked to Old Members, Fellows and a range of other Colleges about their views and experience of alumni relations and fundraising.  It has been extremely valuable to get a wide range of perspectives as we now develop the plans for the next few years.

So as we now scale up our fundraising at the College, what does this mean for Old Members? 

Firstly, we hope very much that the benefits of investment in this area will benefit everyone.  We really do believe that continuing to build the contact between the College and Old Members and having an active programme of events and communications is good for the College and its current members as well as, we hope, providing enjoyable opportunities for Old Members to be in touch with College and with each other.  

Over the next year, we will be offering a range of new events, both at College and beyond, and making some changes to the communications that we produce.   We are also looking at ways of increasing the contact between Old Members and current students to maximise the use of a great network for those planning and starting out on their career paths.  
 
Secondly, we will be asking for your support for the College and its strategic priorities.  We understand that not everyone is in a position to give to the College but also know that many of you would like to do so.  As one Old Member wrote, being asked for a donation is ‘a reminder of our good fortune of having attended Jesus College and prerequisite for funding a modern university’. 

Over the next year, Old Members will be encouraged to give to the College in whichever way is most appropriate.  We will be asking Old Members to consider:

We will be producing information on tax-efficient giving which will be available in hard copy and on the web.  Events for donors and recognition of all the support raised are both very much in our plans.

 

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We want to ensure that future generations of Jesus students will flourish in the way they have in the past. The College’s Strategic Plan (2007-2011) has identified the following projects as those which will enable us to achieve this vision.

1. The Ship Street Centre
The College has had the unique opportunity of acquiring a 150-year lease on a Victorian warehouse behind the cottages in Ship Street. It is currently being converted into 31 study rooms, a lecture theatre and meeting rooms. The project will increase the amount of undergraduate accommodation at the central site by 30%. The 100-seater lecture theatre and 2 large meeting rooms will help address the shortage of teaching space. It is the largest capital project that the project has undertaken for more than 20 years and raising money for the project and the repayment of endowment funds used to underwrite the project will be a priority for the foreseeable future. More information about the project can be found on the Ship Street microsite.

This development will enable the College to meet its goal of expanding accommodation and facilities at the central site.

• The immediate beneficiaries will be first-year students who will have high-quality, affordable rooms immediately adjacent to the main site. As there are no plans to increase the numbers of undergraduates being admitted, graduate students will also benefit as there will a greater number of rooms at the central site available to them. The College aims to offer accommodation to all students who request it.
• The College as a whole will have better teaching facilities to offer both its staff and students. Teaching space will be increased by 30%. The lecture theatre will enable Fellows to teach larger audiences and the teaching rooms will help the College’s ability to deliver small classes and tutorials.
• The Centre will also enable the College to tap into the growing conference market.

2. Access bursaries
Access bursaries range from £200-£600 per year, depending on household income. The grants are made automatically if students are eligible for bursaries awarded by the University on the basis of means testing. Around 20% of students currently receive access bursaries at some level. Since their introduction a few years ago, requests to the Hardship Fund which addresses financial crises have seen a significant drop which supports the fact that Access Bursaries are helping students to avoid getting into serious financial difficulty.

Since the demand for financial support is expected to increase over the next few years, as we continue to widen participation from across all social backgrounds, we are aiming to double our provision for bursaries. In this way Jesus will continue to be at the forefront of ensuring that no student's lack financial means will present a barrier to an Oxford education.

3. Tutorial Fellowships
The tutorial system is the hallmark of an Oxford education. It offers students unique access to world-class academics and researchers in their field. As Oxford’s emphasis on research continues to grow, it is increasingly falling to Colleges to support tutorial teaching.

Covering the College costs of a tutorial Fellowship needs an endowment of £600,000. Jesus College currently has six Tutorial Fellowships permanently endowed, thanks to generous donations and legacies in the past.

By doubling the number of endowed or funded Tutorial Fellowships to 12, our aim is to continue to be an outstanding centre for teaching and research, attracting exceptional academic staff, within our own areas of particular academic strength and in the context of the wider collegiate University.

4. Graduate studentships
The University as a whole is committed to graduate teaching and the integration of those graduates into its research agenda, but Oxford colleges are in heavy competition for the best graduates with the more heavily endowed US universities who offer a much wider range of graduate scholarships. Increased funding for graduates benefits both the teaching of undergraduates and research. Jesus College currently has 158 graduate students and aims to increase this to 165 by 2011. It aims to raise funds for 10 fully or partly funded graduate studentships. There is particular need to find support for

5. Sporting and cultural activities
Part of the Jesus College experience for all students is the social, cultural and sporting life. We want to ensure that future generations of students enrich their lives in the same way as past members have done. Specifically we wish to seek funds to support music and other creative pursuits and sporting activities.

6. General Support
In addition to support raised for specific projects, the College seeks to increase funding for the ongoing activities of the college. Jesus College relies enormously on endowment income to underwrite its activities – around 50% of its expenditure is covered by endowment income. We estimate that each undergraduate is subsidised by at least £4,000 a year by endowment income. We therefore seek to raise support for the ongoing and valuable work of the College in delivering top quality education and research.

 

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Making a Donation

Jesus College, Oxford is an exempt charity for the purpose of charity legislation. As such, it has charitable status – albeit it is exempt from the requirement to register as a charity with the Charities Commission. It does not, therefore, have a Charity reference number. (This will change in late 2009, when non-exempt charities are expected to be required to register with the Charities Commission.)

The College’s charitable status means that you are able to maximise the value of any gift by tapping into the tax breaks available for charitable giving. By giving money tax-efficiently, either you or Jesus College can claim back the tax you would have paid on your income. This means that, without it costing you more, the College can receive more. And if you obtain the tax relief, you might be able to afford to give more.

In addition, you may be able to get any gift matched by your employer. Many companies run matched giving programmes through which they match their employees’ gifts to charities. Human Resources departments generally run these programmes.

More Information:

- Making an Online Donation
- Making a Donation via Donation Form
- Gift Aid & UK Tax Relief
- Payroll Giving
- Giving a Legacy
- Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) Account
- Gifts of Shares
- Giving Buildings or Land
- Tax Efficient Giving From Outside the UK

 

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18th May 2009

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