FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for the Campaign
What is the name of the King's fundraising campaign?
World questions|King's answers is the name of the most ambitious fundraising campaign ever undertaken by King's College London. Setting the bar high, we aim to help find solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the planet, ranging from providing for an ever-ageing population to eradicating poverty to better treatments for cancer. These issues affect the lives of millions. They seem daunting but we must find the answers to these urgent questions and many others soon.
What are you raising money for?
Our campaign aims to raise funds for three key research areas where King's is ideally placed to contribute:
-
Neuroscience and mental health
-
Leadership and society
-
Cancer
These three themes are some of the biggest challenges that modern society faces, issues that in different ways affect every person, and every nation in the world. As our population ages, the prevalence of conditions like dementia and stroke will increase. The instability created by conflict threatens us all, either through war or terrorism. Cancer remains one of humankind's great foes, with one in three of us developing the disease in our lifetime.
The campaign is distinctive in the university sector both in the UK and internationally in that, rather than merely financing new buildings, or subsidising the day-to-day running of the College, the money will help provide the answers to some of the world's greatest challenges.
Our work in these areas will make a real difference to countless people: it will mean further progress in understanding Alzheimer's disease, finding new cancer treatments and developing new options to restoring peace.
How did you decide the campaign priorities?
These three themes were chosen after widespread consultation including hundreds of conversations with alumni, staff and donors, plus a feasibility study.
We looked at our research areas and considered where our strengths lay and where King's could make a real difference. There was a clear consensus that King's next campaign should be ambitious and have a real impact on the world.
The three themes, formally approved by the College Council, reflect the intersection of King's strengths with some of the world's most pressing challenges and the interests of many philanthropists. World questions|King's answers draws upon the tremendous breadth and depth of research and teaching found across the College.
You're not really answering the big questions are you? What about Aids, global warming, etc?
We are not answering absolutely all the big questions but we are certainly addressing the very major ones in the area of cancer treatment, developments in the neurosciences and mental health field, as well as tackling the issues of global conflict and governance.
In terms of Aids research, the College's Cecily Saunders Institute of Palliative Care has undertaken a number of research projects looking at palliative care in sub-Saharan Africa, including a study of sub-Saharan African end-of-life HIV care providers and a report on paediatric palliative care in sub-Saharan Africa.
How much do you hope to raise, and how much have you raised to date?
'We intend to raise an ambitious £500million, making this one of the biggest university fundraising campaigns in Europe. We have already successfully raised nearly £200 million. [£197 million to be precise]. This figure includes more than 52,000 gifts and donations, including those from 5,530 alumni who have made donations. The College has received more than 100 gifts and grants in excess of £500,000 and 60 of more than £1 million.
Breaking the £500 million down:
-
Neuroscience and mental health £200 million
-
Leadership and society £99 million
-
Cancer £143 million
-
Somerset House East Wing and Quad £33 million
-
Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care £15 million
-
Annual Fund, scholarship, unrestricted £10 million
This is a huge amount of money. Do you think you can do it?
£500 million is an incredibly large of money. This is a very ambitious campaign. The issues are substantial, complex and compelling, and we can't afford anything less than a comprehensive and immediate response.
To date we have already successfully raised nearly £200 million, which is 40 percent of the total campaign goal.
We've already started work on answering some of the world's critical questions, but there are many more. None of them is easy, and none of them can wait.
We're convinced we can make a major difference by 2015. To do this we need to dramatically expand our work. We need more specialist researchers; experts on different sides of the same issues; support for exceptional students; and the space and tools for them to excel.
Why launch now when things are so tough?
We are in difficult economic times, but in university fundraising terms this is not the situation. Last year, most charitable gifts of more than £1million were made to higher education. In fact, education has been the only growth sector in UK giving in the past three years. Despite the hard times, giving by the top 100 philanthropists was up eight per cent.
Is King's announcing this campaign now because of pending government budget cuts?
No. Like every university embarking on a major fundraising effort, King's has been securing gifts in advance of the campaign's public launch. With £197 million already raised, this is the right time to announce World questions|King's answers. This campaign is raising money for the College's strategic priorities, not to compensate for government cuts.
Fundraising campaigns are becoming part of the higher education landscape in Britain. Cambridge and Oxford have undertaken campaigns with goals of £1 billion or more. Campaigns of £500 million or more are common at our peer research universities worldwide. A distinctive feature of World questions|King's answers is its external focus, which will inspire donors beyond our immediate community, as well as within it.
Who will give to this campaign?
A wide spectrum of supporters: alumni, friends, corporations, UK and international trusts and foundations, staff and parents. The breadth of the three themes – plus providing scholarships, renovating the East Wing of Somerset House and giving unrestricted support – will appeal to many alumni and friends.
Why should these people or organisations give to King's?
King's is consistently ranked as one of the top 25 universities worldwide and with a distinguished reputation across the arts and sciences. The most recent assessment of the College's research showed that 60 per its research deemed by the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise to be of world-leading or internationally-excellent standard.
King's is well placed to address the questions raised by world leaders, opinion formers and policy makers. The College is already engaged in global research that touches real lives, consequently strengthening our position as a global leader.
King's has an outstanding record in terms of world-leading research activity:
-
A member of the Russell Group, a coalition of the UK's top 20 research-based universities;
-
In the top group of seven UK universities for research earnings;
-
The most successful higher education institution in winning grants from the Department of Health. Between 2005 and 2008, almost £18 million (20 per cent of the Department's total spending at universities) was awarded to King's scientists;
-
A leading higher education provider of services to external organisations, with research contract and consultancy income of £20 million in 2008-9; and
-
Research income totalling £135 million.
King's has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA, and it is now the largest centre for the education of doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals in Europe.
The College is home to six Medical Research Council centres and is a member of King's Health Partners: a partnership with three leading NHS foundation trusts that integrates world-leading research, teaching and clinical service to deliver real improvements in healthcare for Londoners and the world, which in 2009 became one of the five first Academic Health Sciences centres to be accredited by the UK government
When did the campaign start and when will it be completed?
Like most universities, the College started raising funds in a 'silent phase' of the campaign, which for World questions|King's answers began in 2005. The public launch was on 3 November 2010. The campaign will close in 2015.
How can I give to the campaign?
Simply contact the King's College Development Office on: 0207 848 4430, email kingsanswers@kcl.ac.uk or see the campaign website.
How can I get involved?
Learn more about the campaign by visiting its website. Sign up for the campaign newsletter. Tell your friends about the campaign. Volunteer for campaign events. Make a gift. If you have a question or comment, send an email to kingsanswers@kcl.ac.uk.