$83 Million Global Fund-Raising Campaign Kicks Off in Canada

When AKU launched its first global fund-raising campaign in 1983, the Ismaili community in Canada represented by far the largest donor segment in the world. Today, four campaigns later, this still holds true.

Appropriately, AKU’s fifth global fund-raising campaign was launched in Canada in September 2004. As part of an US $83 million campaign over the coming year, the University sought donor support across Canada for a wide range of programmes and initiatives. The response was overwhelming. In an unprecedented outpouring of support, Ismaili Canadians pledged more than C $22 million to Aga Khan University Partnership Campaign in just 12 days.

Speaking on October 12 at the conclusion of the Canadian leg of the fund-raising drive, Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President, AKU, said that the University is “delighted by the fact that support came not just from long-standing, elder donors but also young professionals and Canadian youth.” Besides generous contributions from past donors towards endowments for the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Institute for Educational Development, the much younger professional community across Canada pledged C $5.4 million for a Performing Arts Centre at the new Faculty of Arts and Sciences (AKU-FAS) campus in Karachi. At the same time, young Canadians and youth groups banded together to raise C $2.3 million which will go towards the building of a Sports Centre at AKU-FAS.

Of particular significance was the support received from the Canadian corporate community, as well as members of the Pakistani community in Ontario. “In Vancouver we were pleased to receive a pledge of C $500,000 from a group of 16 corporate leaders,” said President Kassim-Lakha, “and in Toronto pledges were received for another C $500,000 from members of non-Ismaili Pakistani families.”

Reflecting on one of the most successful fund-raising campaigns in the University’s history, the AKU President lauded the “very high levels of commitment displayed by all members of the Canada Resource Development Committee team and the University’s countless well-wishers as well as AKF and other volunteers who worked so diligently in front of and behind the scenes.” He also appreciated the untiring efforts of the resident Ismaili community, the Ismaili Council for Canada, the AKU Resource Development team in Karachi, and senior faculty members who represented the University during the Canadian leg of the fund-raising campaign.

According to the AKU President, the reasons for support are changing as the University grows. “When we had a single campus in Karachi, with a Medical College, School of Nursing and a teaching hospital, the focus for many donors was charitable relief. Today donors are younger, and their reasons for giving are shifting more towards sustainable development through philanthropy that yields benefits over the long term in a variety of ways.”

In this regard, the University’s rapid expansion in recent years has served the fund-raising cause well. “With ten teaching sites in seven countries, we are moving towards fulfilling AKU’s international mandate. We are steadily building our capacity to mobilise people, resources and research from different cultures and societies to address a range of socio-economic problems in the developing world. Our donors recognise that the institution is far more than brick and mortar,” the AKU President concluded.

Following the successful Canada campaign, AKU’s fund-raising team visited Bangladesh and the UAE where the response was just as enthusiastic. The campaign now moves on to Portugal, France and Pakistan, and towards the end of the year will visit the Far East, the United Kingdom, United States and East Africa. The University is confident that the ultimate target of US $83 million will have been met by the time the drive draws to a close at the end of 2005.