Posted October 17, 2017

 

By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)

 

RALEIGH, N.C. – Though steeped in rich history, the North Carolina Textile Foundation’s (NCTF’s) public profile hasn't always reflected its impact on N.C. State’s College of Textiles. Foundation leadership sometimes questions whether or not the Foundation is on the radar of many alumni or textile industry representatives, and they are working to change that.

 

But without the Foundation, now celebrating its 75th year, North Carolina State University’s College of Textiles may not even exist, said its dean, Dr. David Hinks. The NCTF, the fundraising arm of College of Textiles, is a major reason the College not only survived the industry’s lean times but strengthened and expanded, he said.

 

“Were it not for the Foundation, the College may have been rolled into other university disciplines, as was the case with other (U.S.-based) textile schools,” Hinks said.

 

And that, perhaps more than anything else, speaks volumes about the importance of the N.C. Textile Foundation to the College of Textiles.

 

Which is why Hinks, who was named dean in December 2015 after serving in that capacity on an interim basis for more than a year, brought in new leadership for the Foundation over the last year and a half. Michael Ward was hired in March 2016 as director of development, where he engages industry in fundraising activities. Then in May of this year, after an exhaustive nationwide search, Carrie Bhada was named executive director of the NCTF, focusing on building relationships with stakeholders and partnering with the board as well as colleagues in the College and University Advancement in order to increase philanthropic support to the College of Textiles.

 

The ‘right ingredients’

 

Hinks found in Bhada someone with a wealth of experience, including 17 years working to advance the goals of national non-profits, healthcare organizations and institutes of higher education. She has comprehensive fundraising and management experience, and has raised millions of dollars on behalf of these organizations over the years.

 

“It’s really exciting because it’s a new industry for me but one that I had more familiarity with than I thought, just based on some of the research that I had supported through fundraising at the medical centers,” Bhada said. “It was really, really thrilling for me to come in and tour the College. Research is research, impact is impact, and I really saw it as a gem, part of the larger university, where you’re able to draw on the resources from University Advancement, which is a sophisticated operation, and then leverage the support of the board with the leadership of the dean. It had the right ingredients for the recipe that I was looking for.”

 

Shortly after joining the Foundation, Bhada said she quickly understood the need for raising its profile, she said.

 

“The mission of the Foundation is pretty simple, with the sole purpose of supporting the College of Textiles, to help it elevate itself in the industry and continue to innovate,” said Bhada, who most recently served as vice president for Institutional Advancement at St. Joseph’s College in New York. “The two are inextricably linked. We don't support other things – we support the College.

 

“And I think the awareness factor – when people are giving to the Foundation, they are supporting the College – is something that we can work on,” she added. “I think that by behaving differently as a foundation that needs to raise money, we will improve. So those changes are things that we've been talking about, and our board leadership has been supportive of the fact that we need to be focused and direct about what our purpose is.”

 

Hinks said he is excited to have Bhada on board and was drawn by her interpersonal skills.

 

“She has a wonderful way of communicating with people and also a directness, of helping move a relationship forward in ways that are going to help the College,” Hinks said. “That's really what we need in an executive director and what we need from the Foundation. At the end of the day, it's about finding people's passion. And I think Carrie does a great job identifying what an individual's passion is and how it might align with the College and ultimately leading to student and faculty success.”

 

Ward, a Raleigh native who grew up a Wolfpack fan, returned to his hometown after spending more than 15 years in higher education philanthropy in a variety of roles, including athletic development, academic development and planned giving. His experience helped him develop a passion for being service oriented, he said.

 

“Here, I feel like I'm truly making a difference, and part of that is I believe like I'm making a difference for my state,” he said. “I really love North Carolina. And I think I'm making a difference for an industry that was part of the fabric of the country. I get to be involved in something for me that is meaningful.”

 

Ward said he realized early on the work that needed to be done to help alums and other supporters connect the dots between the NCTF and the College of Textiles.

 

“There seems to be a disconnect with the North Carolina Textile Foundation and how it supports the College of Textiles and how they really interrelate,” Hinks said. “I've met with donors who were scholarship recipients but were naive to give because they thought we had it covered with the Foundation. I've met with alums of the College who had no idea what the Foundation did, how it supports the College.

 

“So I knew we had to find a better way to message and create more awareness of the importance of our Foundation,” he added. “We have a lot of need and we have a unique opportunity.”

 

Other members of the Foundation staff include Donna Daetweiler, associate program manager – donor relations, who has been on staff about eight years; and Wendy Clark, program coordinator, who joined on a temporary basis last year.

 

Support is foundational

 

With its mission to promote the welfare, future development and reputation of the College as the premier institution for textile education and research, the Foundation supports the College of Textiles in numerous ways. As a charitable organization, it provides funds for scholarships to deserving undergraduate and graduate students; engages in recruitment and retention of highly qualified students, educators and researchers; and assists in the placement of graduates. It also assists in the acquisition and maintenance of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for research and education.

 

To date, the Foundation has funded almost $35 million for faculty and staff development, innovative scholarship programs, faculty and student recruitment and other unique programs that enable the College to educate outstanding young graduates to meet the needs of a rapidly changing, highly technical industry.

 

The NCTF administers more than 100 scholarships each year. Of the $791,000 that was awarded to College of Textiles students for the 2017-18 academic year, 94 percent came from the Foundation.

 

“Serving on the North Carolina Textile Foundation board has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” said Charles Heilig III, incoming president of the Foundation and president & CEO of Parkdale’s Textile Division. “Being able to observe the growth of our current students, the success of our recent graduates and the professionalism of the College of Textiles team delivers an intrinsic reward rarely surpassed.”

 

In recruiting and retaining highly sought-after educators and researchers, the Foundation currently supports eight professorships, and Hinks’ goal is to add at least two more during its current fundraising campaign.

 

“I'm a very fortunate faculty member to have a chaired professorship (the Cone Mills Professor of Textile Chemistry),” Hinks said, “and the value of that professorship to me and how my research has been successful and withstand the ebbs and flows of funding is absolutely critical to success in many regards. It sort of elevates the success.”

 

Added Bhada: “For David to continue to do what he needs to do as a dean, we have to provide that resource for him because it is an expectation for both retention and recruitment. That's one of the things that sets us apart from our neighboring institutions and other colleges and universities in the nation. It's not the talent of our faculty or the scope of our programs, it's the size of our endowment, so that's really our greatest opportunity and where we can grow the most. That's another reason the Foundation is so important.”

 

The NCTF has set its current campaign goal at $26 million, and it is having a record year in securing funds for scholarships and programs in the College of Textiles, despite some of its previous awareness issues, Bhada said. The effort is part of the university’s larger Think and Do The Extraordinary campaign, which has set a bold goal of $1.6 billion, the largest in the history of the university and one of the largest in the country.

 

Raising awareness

 

Hinks and the Foundation staff have been using every resource and means available to increase the NCTF’s profile, Bhada said. Among them: By attending as many industry events as possible, including meetings hosted by the Southern Textile Association (STA) and trade shows such as the IFAI Expo, to spread the word about the Foundation.

 

“What Michael and I have been working on is figuring out how to leverage our resources for philanthropic support,” Bhada said. “That's really been a lack of focus, I would say, an opportunity that hasn't been 100 percent realized.

 

“But even in the year-plus that Michael has been here, he's already making a lot of progress with that,” she continued. “He’s closed more gifts for the Foundation this year, I think, in total than we’ve had before. And university-wide, it's a top performer in terms of the number of solicitations that he's making and gifts that he's closing. Of course, that's one easy way to measure the general impact he's having – being out there talking and connecting with people who can work with us.”

 

Hinks added that faculty and Foundation directors are purposely being put together with alumni to share all the good things happening in the industry at the College of Textiles.

 

“That captivates alums very well, when they hear about the vibrant things that are happening in the industry and at N.C. State,” he said. “One thing that I love about working with Carrie and Michael is they are building those relationships in very meaningful ways. So we have to connect with alums and other partners to build a pipeline of donors, and that takes time. But at the end of the day, it's about the long-term relationships that we have.”

 

Hinks also spends a lot of time talking with students, including incoming freshman during orientation, about the importance of giving back, a mindset he hopes will stay with them after graduation, he said.

 

“I don't really talk about money, but ways to give back to either to N.C. State or the College through some of the activities that we have,” Hinks said.

 

He said he defines philanthropy as a voluntary action for the common good, and he suggest that giving back can occur in three ways.

 

“For example, we have a graduating senior class dinner, and I always say a few words there,” he said. “I tell those students that there are three basic ways to give back. One is through opportunity – providing opportunities to current students for internships or full-time positions. Another is to give their time. That’s very important. And the other issue is treasure (financial support). But we focus mostly on giving their time back.”

 

The College of Textiles also engages alumni and friends through a large (nearly 2,500-member) LinkedIn group, which is more active than ever before, Hinks said. In addition, a dean’s young leadership council is currently being developed, with the purpose of allowing alums to provide feedback and help them connect, promote events, etc.

 

Exciting time for the industry

 

Indeed, the College of Textiles is thriving, in large part due to the N.C. Textile Foundation. In May, it graduated its largest class ever, which is “just phenomenal for an industry that is resurgent,” Hinks said.

 

“We have significant demand for our students at all levels, Ph.D., Masters and undergraduate,” he said. “We're at a record number of enrolled Ph.D. students, and we had a record last year, so we just keep on increasing. We also have more faculty members than we've ever had, in part through university support, which is very important, even in times of a difficult state budget. It's just a remarkable time to be in the College and a remarkable time to serve the industry that way.”

 

A major factor in continued growth and prosperity is helping people “re-envisage” what textiles is, Hinks added.

 

“The traditional view of textiles is still very important, but at the same time, there are so many more innovative products that are fiber based, and that's really where textiles touches everybody, not just in clothing,” he said. “Finding ways to change perceptions is quite difficult.

 

“But what we find is sometimes it takes individuals to come on to our campus in order to have an ‘a-ha’ moment,” he continued. “When they realize it, it’s like, ‘wow, I had no idea!’ We hear this all the time. And then you know you have something to work with, somebody to talk to, whether it's a student or a parent or a visitor from out of town. That's really exciting. But we can't bring the whole world to the campus, so we have to be able to communicate through other platforms, including social media.”

 

The possibilities for reaching alumni and potential partners are tremendous, reaping mutually beneficial dividends, Ward added.

 

“We want to help industry hire top talent and at the same time we want them to see the value in us and realize that what's good for them is good for us,” Ward said. “The more we grow and the more they invest in our Foundation, it's a value add for alumni degrees. It's going to generate great talent. Again, what a unique opportunity that is right now in today's climate.”