If serendipity does not drop a big gift in your lap, make sure you are courting donors, says Olga Wojtas

Richard Davies, the Russian archivist of Leeds University library's special collections, was being his usual helpful self when an American turned up to do some research for a book on the Cold War. Little did Davies know that he would be instrumental in attracting a unique literary collection, including original manuscripts by Oscar Wilde and Evelyn Waugh.

The American was Geoffrey Elliott, a retired managing director of Morgan Stanley & Co, who with his wife, Fay, had established a collection of rare manuscripts, books and letters linked to leading British figures - a collection that was recently designated internationally significant by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The Elliotts wanted to make the works publicly accessible in Britain but felt they might be marginalised in a copyright library. Davies's expertise and support prompted their decision to donate the works, and he reportedly still has a sore back from the number of times it has been slapped by colleagues.

Christopher Sheppard, head of special collections, says: "Out of the blue, Fay Elliott wrote saying, 'Would you like our collection?' I looked at the list and it was just absolutely amazing: it wasn't just a couple of old family Bibles."

³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ

The Elliotts also pledged funds to enable Leeds to maintain and improve the collection. Newly acquired treasures include unpublished John Betjeman poems and Wilde's lecture notes from his 1882 tour of America. There is constant discussion with the couple about research and teaching projects resulting from the collection and about acquisitions. "It is given to us absolutely, but we still think of it as their collection," Sheppard says.

This level of collaboration between private individuals and universities is unusual, but it highlights the role that serendipity can play in bringing gifts to institutions. More usually, universities have to reach out to donors. Young Dawkins, an American who is designing a major fundraising campaign for Edinburgh University, says there are three main motivating factors that universities have to play on to attract private donations: belief in the institution's mission, belief in its leadership and belief in its fiduciary integrity.

³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ

Most commonly, institutions that have identified a project that can enhance a donor's reputation will target individuals, often alumni, Dawkins says.

If a university can demonstrate to alumni that it is going from strength to strength, a potential donor will feel that their degree has increased in value.

But Dawkins warns institutions not to assume that potential donors will be an easy touch. "People with money want to know they're giving it to people who understand the value of money, and the perception is that academics maybe don't. (Donors) want to know how it will be used, how much it really costs to endow a professorship. The universities that have a record of being able to give clear answers are those that do the best in fundraising."

Joan Farrer, senior research tutor at the Royal College of Art, believes that universities should court the new millionaires - lottery winners or financial whizzkids. She received funding from the Matthew Wrightson Charity Trust to track the social and environmental cost of the progress of a single wool fibre in a sweater. Members of the Wrightson family were on the awarding panel and came to see her finished work, forging a relationship that has spanned a decade. Potential donors may not have expertise in the discipline, Farrer says, and researchers should be able to explain the relevance of their work to laypeople.

Markus Vinzent, a Birmingham University professor and founder of academici, a global network for researchers and business partners, believes successful entrepreneurs can be particularly receptive to approaches from academics.

He says they have often had to abandon hobbies and interests for their careers. They see academics as equally dedicated but more idealistic, and are attracted by the idea of working with them.

Private donors often have a precise idea of the kind of research they want to support. This may stem from personal experience, such as the generosity of the Quaker Cadbury family towards education and social welfare. The death of her mother from multiple sclerosis prompted J. K. Rowling to donate a "major" sum towards a ?2.5 million centre at Edinburgh University for research into the condition.

A private donor who does not want publicity has recently given ?100,000 towards two full-time research fellowships in cancer nursing at Napier University. Catriona Kennedy, a senior lecturer, says there is usually a personal reason behind cancer research funding. The donor hasn't put any demands on the university in terms of how the money should be used, but Kennedy feels more responsibility towards the fellows' success than she would if they were funded through a research grant. "My main concern is that the people we've appointed complete their PhDs," she says.

³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ

C. Duncan Rice, Aberdeen University principal, was involved in a $1 billion fundraising campaign in his previous post at New York University. He says private funds have advantages. For instance, they tend to flow towards excellence: "No donor has any interest in providing money for mediocre work, whereas there may be all sorts of political pressures on the Government to spread money thinly and to avoid any appearance of playing favourites."

He adds: "Private donors are often willing to fund aspects of university activity that are not immediately utilitarian."

Walter Nimmo, an Edinburgh alumnus and head of drug development firm Inveresk Clinical Research, says universities need to diversify sources of funding. He has given "seven figures in dollars" (more than ?570,000) to Edinburgh for pump-priming imaging facilities that will enable researchers to monitor the impact of drugs on organs.

³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ

"The top ten universities are in the US not because they've got more money but because they have diversified sources of income and are free from government meddling," he says.

TRADITIONS OF GIVING

* Charles Gillett, chairman of the Edward Cadbury Charitable Trust (Incorporated), has given support to Birmingham University's department of theology and religion over the past 50 years.

Gillett is the great-nephew of Edward Cadbury, who was a grandson of the chocolate company's founder. The Cadburys are Quakers and social pioneers, and Edward was instrumental in setting up the Selly Oak Colleges for adult education, noted for their ecumenical and interfaith work.

Gillett says his father was "almost adopted" by Edward and Dorothy Cadbury, who had no children, and became chairman of the trust that funds a theology chair, research fellowships and lectures. The trust has also established a purpose-built centre for the Mingana collection of Islamic and Christian Arabic manuscripts in the Selly Oak Colleges, now part of Birmingham University.

"When my father died, people said, 'You've got to pick up the reins'," Gillett says. "I owe an enormous debt to my family and it's an honour to do this sort of thing. I was bred that way."

Gillett has a particular interest in interfaith relations and says the university has been "quite brilliant" in its work in this area, notably in Christian-Muslim relations, which he considers important in the current climate. There is enormous strength in the department of theology and religion, he says, and the expansion of its work has meant the original funding from the trust has been "topped up".

But he stresses that the department has complete independence and that he plays no part in appointments or decisions.

* What do you give one of Germany's most successful entrepreneurs for his 70th birthday?

In 1980, Altana AG, the international pharmaceuticals group, honoured Herbert Quandt, its first chairman, by setting up the Herbert-Quandt-Stiftung foundation.

Quandt, who risked his fortune in 1960 to save the ailing BMW company, strongly believed that entrepreneurs had a responsibility to the community.

Initially, the foundation focused on topics linked to Altana's business, such as childhood nutrition, but its work has since become more wide-ranging. It set up a joint venture with Birmingham University on European identity and cultural pluralism, spurred by the work of Samuel Huntington, Harvard University political scientist, on the possible conflict between Islam and the West. The project aims to improve European pupils' knowledge of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, encouraging them to see cultural differences as enriching European intellectual and cultural history rather than simply as a source of conflict.

Albrecht von Kalnein, executive board member, says the foundation chose Birmingham because of its unbiased approach to religious studies at a time when most German chairs were linked to particular denominations. Those at the foundation see it as an "inciting partner" that can help in terms of knowhow and contacts, von Kalnein says, but would never consider directing research or its outcomes. Part of the focus on cultural issues is due to historical factors, although von Kalnein says Quandt's family history - his stepmother married Joseph Goebbels - is not a direct motivating factor since the foundation was set up by a company rather than a family member.

Also, some Quandt factories used forced labour during the Second World War, although it is not clear what Quandt knew of this.

³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ

"We are aware of that dark period of German history," von Kalnein says. "We do not focus our work in a bilateral way, tackling the problem of dialogue between Germans and Jews, but try to do so in a modern way in a 'trialogue' with Jewish and Muslim partners."