For Doug Thomson, the new director of campaign and alumni relations at the University of Nottingham, being offered the position gave him more than simply professional satisfaction.

¡°I was immensely proud and excited ¨C first for emotive reasons in that it¡¯s my university, I was an undergraduate here,¡± said Mr Thomson, who studied history at Nottingham. ¡°I¡¯ve known the university for a number of years and have been involved [with it] in a number of ways. So I?was delighted as an alumnus.¡±

For several years already, he has worked with Nottingham¡¯s senior management and the campaign and alumni relations team on an advisory basis.

In his view, fundraising is only a means to an end. His wider objective is to ¡°change the way the university engages with its alumni and other friends¡±. Nottingham, he believes, has made ¡°quite a lot of progress down that road¡± but still has much to do.

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He would like to see alumni develop a long-term engagement with the institution so that ¡°day one of enrolment at Nottingham is in fact day one of a life of involvement with the university ¨C first as a student, then as a graduate¡±.

In the short term, he is intent on reaching the ?150?million target of Nottingham¡¯s Impact fundraising campaign. The university is already two-thirds of the way to that goal, he said, but it cannot rest on its laurels.

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Nottingham¡¯s ¡°appetite¡± for developing fundraising and alumni relations played a large part in attracting Mr Thomson to the position.

He was also impressed by the leadership¡¯s ¡°commitment¡± to the cause, he said. ¡°That buy-in¡­was definitely a big factor ¨C we have a vice-chancellor [David Greenaway] who cycles around the country every summer holiday raising money for university projects. I?can¡¯t think of any other v-c who does that.¡±

He acknowledged that his field was a growing area in the sector, but it would be wrong, he said, ¡°to paint it as expanding out of need as other funding sources decline¡±.

¡°Engagement [with alumni] is important financially and enables us to do things that we simply couldn¡¯t do [otherwise], but it is also enriching the life of the university in many other ways,¡± he said.

¡°This is the key thing that Nottingham has embraced. It¡¯s not just paying lip service to engagement with alumni and other friends. It¡¯s something the university welcomes and enjoys.

¡°It makes for a better experience for our students, staff and alumni if there is that openness and that willingness to engage.

¡°Nottingham was built on external engagement and interest: Jesse Boot founded the university with external engagement in mind. It¡¯s been part of its ethos, and this is simply another manifestation of that spirit.¡±

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john.elmes@tsleducation.com