Chief representatives from Mexico’s state universities recently tapped the expertise of key fundraising professionals at Miami’s public research university to help boost philanthropy at their institutions.
Florida International University (FIU) Foundation Chief Development Officer, George Corton, and Executive Director of Corporate Relations, Karla Hernandez, presented a half-day seminar on successful fundraising in Manzanilla, Mexico, which was attended by nearly 30 presidents and provosts from the state universities.
Titled, “Éxito en la procuración de fondos: Predicando con el ejemplo (Success in Procuring Funds: Preaching By Example),” the seminar was presented at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and Asociación Nacional de Universidades e Instituciones de Educación Superior’s (ANUIES) third annual joint conference.
Corton and Hernandez shared FIU’s foundation model and the ongoing success of the university’s $750 million Next Horizon campaign. They also offered ideas on ways to invite donors to partner with universities to achieve impact.

“Our seminar was not only a huge success, but also empowering for the attendees present. We gave them tools to be able to take their respective universities to new heights through philanthropy,” said Corton. “We’ve already been asked to replicate it in other markets both nationally and internationally.”

Although state universities in Mexico are publicly funded, they have begun to look toward philanthropy to support the margin of excellence of their programs.