Presented by Belén Castro, secretary general of the University, the breakfast and Q&A session organised by the Corporate Development Department was attended by Jordi Canals, lecturer and director of the IESE Business School from 2001 to 2016. The speaker shared some key concepts of fundraising with the attendees.

Canals began by clarifying that there is no point in fundraising for a project without a purpose. He divided his presentation into five parts, explaining the keys to the fundraising process step by step: purpose, projects, people, fundraising strategy and impact assessment. “Strategies for fundraising,” Canals explained, “must be perfectly aligned with the purpose of the institution you represent. Therefore, you must take maximum advantage of what the purpose itself can offer.”

With regard to people, the IESE lecturer said that to carry out a fundraising strategy with these characteristics it is necessary to have a very professional profile and great training. “They must understand very well that this is a complex job. They have to know the institution perfectly, internally and externally,” remarked Canals.

The former director of IESE delved deeply into the characteristics of any person in charge of this very important department. “We cannot forget,” said Canals, “that we are trying to develop a project with human collaboration, so face-to-face communication is paramount. We could say that email is the worst enemy of fundraising.” For this reason, he continued to explain, “it is essential to have a generous attitude, to dedicate hours to listening, learning and gaining knowledge. The potential donor should receive even better treatment than a client. We must aim to leave a lasting impression of our institution on this person.”

The rector, Alfonso Méndiz closed the meeting. The breakfast was attended by members of the Governing Board and deans of UIC Barcelona, as well as leaders and fundraising managers in other institutions, such as IESE, EADA, ESADE, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, University of Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Universidad de Villanueva and research institutes such as CREAF, IDIBELL and IIB Sant Pau.