GIVING

Team Effort Helped Put Campaign for Acadia Over the Top, Says Retired VP

By Fred Sgambati ('83)

More than a few people have observed that now retired Vice-President, Advancement, Dr. Rod Morrison, was the architect of Acadia’s historic and hugely successful Campaign for Acadia. His contributions to the Campaign and the University were widely acknowledged when he retired in February and lauded recently by the CCAE, which awarded Dr. Morrison its 2021 Outstanding Achievement Award for his immense impact on the organization and its members through his role on the Board. In a wide-ranging question and answer interview, Dr. Morrison shares his views on the Campaign, the team behind it, and what his time at Acadia has meant to him.

Q. A successful Campaign requires great leadership and a solid foundation. What were the key building blocks to the Campaign for Acadia’s success?

A. Above all, we had a great team. We had an outstanding international Campaign Cabinet spanning over 50 years of graduation dates, with remarkable leadership and commitment from our Campaign Chair Nancy McCain (’82); from Presidents Ray Ivany and Peter Ricketts; from our Board of Governors, chaired by John Rogers (’79), from the Acadia Alumni Association and the Acadia Students’ Union. We had a small but talented and energized staff team led by Nancy Handrigan (’92) as Campaign Director, and Cassie Tremain, Ian Murray (’88), Oonagh Proudfoot (’93, ’06), Scott Roberts, Sherri Turner, and Fred Sgambati (’83, ’85). The other critical foundational element was our sustained emphasis on personal interaction with alumni and donors, and our work to build and enhance the trust and confidence that must underpin a successful campaign.

Q. How was this Campaign similar and different to others you’ve been involved with in the past?

A. Good campaigns set genuine stretch targets but ones that, with concerted and coordinated effort, are achievable, and they rely on the right combination of volunteer and staff resources and the solid support of all stakeholders to achieve those targets. We consulted widely on goals and priorities, engaging students, faculty and staff colleagues, our Board and Alumni Association partners, Cabinet volunteers, and our alumni and donor community. The biggest challenge, I think, was producing strong results with minimal resources and it was the collective energy of the Acadia community that let us meet that challenge.

Q. What did you learn about the Acadia community along the way?

A. Acadia alumni have an almost visceral attachment to their alma mater, and that helped us overcome some of the limitations we faced as we entered the Campaign. The attachment was exemplified by our Campaign Chair and our Cabinet members, and, more broadly, by the alumni and friends who recognize the increasing rarity of the personalized experience Acadia is able to offer and chose to support the Campaign.

Q. What did you learn about yourself?

A. That sleep is vastly overrated.

Q. How challenging was it to take a small group with few resources and create an award-winning team that met a very high bar and, with internal and external support, execute a Campaign that exceeded all expectations?

A. I think our small staff team and our Campaign Cabinet motivated and reinforced each other, and drew further strength from students, faculty, and the broader Acadia community. We all believed in each other and believed that we could surpass our target. The whole team gave it everything they had, and I’m hugely grateful to everyone for their commitment to success.

Q. What will you remember most about your time at Acadia?

A. My time at Acadia has been enormously gratifying and enjoyable because of the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with – my Advancement colleagues, Acadia’s executive team, the Campaign Cabinet, the volunteer leaders of the Board and the Alumni Association, Acadia students, and all the stakeholders who, working together, played such an important part in the success of the Campaign for Acadia.

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