T
he passing year has seen a continuation of changes within PARD. As we continued to operate under the uncertainty that the COVID19 crisis has brought with it, the structural reconstruction of the Division continued nonetheless. A notable example is incorporating the International Marketing Department into PARD, which enables us to better coordinate marketing efforts and utilize resources more efficiently. The Public Affairs Department also went through a significant overhaul following the retirement of its director and staff.
Staffing vacant positions within PARD continues to be a challenge, with the uncertainty that the COVID19 crisis brought to the labor market being a contributing factor. Nonetheless, we were able to staff all vacant managerial positions within the Division with highly experienced professionals recruited through a rigorous process.
While the pandemic limited some aspects of our operations, other areas were not affected as drastically. In some cases, we were even able to expand the scope of our work, mainly through applying new digital means.
An excellent example of this trend is the area of visits on campus. While the David and Janet Polak Visitors Center had to close its doors during lockdowns, and the number of visitors went down from 12,427 in 2019 to 2,710 in 2020, PARD produced in collaboration with our societies worldwide, over 50 webinars and online events featuring Technion faculty and management and reaching thousands of people globally. Other significant events held online included the 2021 graduation ceremonies and the 2020 Board of Governors. The new on-campus digital studio was a tremendous asset in our efforts.
The Donor Services department has also undergone a restructuring, as part of which two teams were established to take care of different aspects of donor acquisition, stewardship, and retention.
The mission of the Donor Services department is to ensure that Technion priorities are adhered to throughout the fundraising process, all the while providing the best services to our societies and donors.
The Donor Relations team focuses on donor stewardship. It works closely with Technion management, faculty, and societies to produce tailored materials to present to potential and current donors.
The Gift Administration and Compliance team works with Technion management, research, and administrative staff to produce accurate and feasible budgets, financial reports, and post-gift compliance mechanisms.
In its new structure, the department produced the following over the past year:
>> 170 project proposals prepared
>> 155 projects were adopted
>> 366 reports prepared
>> 3,000 scholarships and fellowship personal thank you letters
PARD continued its efforts to expand and increase the Technion’s presence in the public eye. Our PR efforts include both traditional and social media. From October 1st, 2020, to June 27th, 2021, we published some 145 press releases (Hebrew and English), 7 newsletters (Hebrew and English), and 2 Technion Magazines (Winter 2020 and Summer 2021) and continued to disseminate news, articles, videos and publish posts on our Hebrew and English social media platforms daily.