On February 7, 2013, I had the opportunity to give a talk to members of the Association professionnelle en gestion philanthropique, a Quebec-based association for fundraising professionals, at the Saint James Club in Montreal. I shared my experience as the executive director of Campus Montréal, a position I took on just over a year ago.

The first thing I told the several hundred people in the audience is that they should not view themselves as “beggars” when refining their fundraising strategies to reach out to donors. Instead, I compared them to ambassadors and missionaries, as messengers of a cause that needs explaining, defending, and sometimes discussing, as is currently the case with the Quebec universities. I also highlighted the qualities they brought to this work: committed to their cause, fundraising professionals are teachers, innovators, and diplomats, who have the ability to cultivate successful and lasting business relationships with thei donor communities.

In addition, I discussed the challenges faced by universities here and abroad. The ability of universities to survive and grow has become a worldwide concern. At Campus Montréal, we are fully aware of this and measure ourselves against the other universities engaged in advanced training and research in a global market.

In my opinion, philanthropism is not immune to the current societal change that is influencing every sphere of human endeavour. Philanthropy is evolving. Donors are adopting a more strategic approach by making multiple gifts or recurring donations to bring about change, betterment, value-creation, and sometimes even to help fulfil a vision.

This new kind of philanthropy calls for bold and innovative thinking both in terms of project ideas and how to communicate them to donors, big and small. I get the feeling our timing is right, because a genuine philanthropic culture is beginning to emerge here in Quebec.

Given this context, Campus Montréal is determined to strengthen ties with alumni. There is a wide gap to bridge, starting with the historical difference in the culture of giving between of French-speaking and English-speaking communities. Campus Montréal’s three universities typically receive more than two thirds of private donations from businesses, foundations and corporations. Which means that individuals donations make up the rest. In contrast, the reverse is more or less true for Canadian philanthropy in general.

It goes without saying that the Campus Montréal fundraising campaign will make every effort to create awareness among its 350,000 alumni by following a Web strategy based on the one that helped Barack Obama win his first presidential campaign.

This indispensable, vital and continuous kind of philanthropy is what I call the new normal, like a new operating manual, which will help us hold on to what we have achieved and remain in the forefront of learned societies. Our world certainly needs it. This is why Campus Montréal adopted the slogan “Talents with a global reach.”