Cairney & Company to welcome Sir Eric Thomas to a growing global team.
Karen Cairney, Founder and President of Cairney & Company is delighted to announce that Sir Eric Thomas, will join the global consulting firm as a Strategic Adviser, providing insight, advice and thought leadership to Cairney & Company clients and educational institutions across the globe.
“I have known Karen Cairney and her fellow partners, specifically Colin McCallum, for many years through CASE and in the sector in general. They have significant knowledge and expertise of fundraising in a global context and I was not only drawn to Cairney & Company by its global reach but the diversity of its client base and the bold thinking that they apply to support their clients to achieve the best outcomes. I look forward to working with this bold, energetic and fun team and adding value to the needs of their global client base.”
Sir Eric, is the former Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bristol and the author of the UK Government report (2004) titled “Increasing Voluntary Giving to Higher Education”, the benchmark for fundraising in Higher Education in the UK, as relevant today as it was in 2004. The report emphasised that not only are universities charities worthy of attracting voluntary contributions, but by doing so there would be a significant impact on them achieving excellence. Sir Eric highlighted the need to create “successful asking institutions”, ones that demonstrate strong institutional leadership; a committed and involved lay leadership; and a professional, well run fundraising office.
He was President of Universities UK from 2001 to 2013 and Chair of the Worldwide University Network from 2003 to 2007. He also served as Chair of the CASE Europe Board for four years and as a Trustee for seven years. He was awarded a Knighthood in the Queen's 2013 Birthday Honours for services to Higher Education.
He graduated in Medicine from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1976 becoming a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist from 1987 until 2001. He was Head of the School of Medicine and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton from 1995 to 2000. He is currently Patron of The Conversation UK, Vice-Chair of a new higher education institution NMITE, a Governor of the University of the Arts London and a trustee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, HRH Commonwealth Study Conferences, IntoUniversity and the Moorfields Eye Charity. He is on the International Advisory Board for Ashinaga, a large Japanese educational charity
This announcement is made even more poignant in the week that the CASE-Ross Support of Education: United Kingdom and Ireland 2020 Generating Philanthropic Support for Higher Education report was released, showing a dramatic increase in new funds secured from the previous year by 21% and the acknowledgement that we continue to see the professionalisation of fundraising across the HE sector.
Many organisations across the spectrum of higher education, cultural institutions and charities are currently facing significant challenges. While much of teams’ bandwidth is focused on the many immediate challenges, outstanding advancement programmes have and will continue to have an important role to play, as institutions maintain meaningful engagement with their stakeholder communities, now and in the future.
An inaugural interview with Sir Eric Thomas on his views from the Thomas Report in 2004 through to today’s environment will be made available next week.
“We are thrilled and delighted at Cairney & Company to welcome Sir Eric Thomas to a growing global team. His experience, knowledge and insight will not only add significant value to our clients’ strategic fundraising activities, but he will be on hand to work with Vice-Chancellors and senior teams on their critical role in ensuring that advancement is embedded into future income generation plans.”