{"id":81614,"date":"2017-11-12T15:30:14","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T14:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=81614"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:53","slug":"niemand-wil-5-euro-geven-voor-iets-wat-zinloos-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/11\/12\/niemand-wil-5-euro-geven-voor-iets-wat-zinloos-is\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No one will give even five euros to something useless\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rector Huib Pols (l) and Chairman Michiel Muller of the Trust Fund disclose the initial extent of the equity fund during the Dies Natalis. <\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

It was no secret that the Erasmus Trust Fund and the university were establishing an endowment fund. The university first alluded to the establishment of such a fund during the formal opening of the 2015-2016 academic year, but afterwards, and then it became quiet.<\/p>\n

The President of the university\u2019s Executive Board, Kristel Baele, and the Chairman of the Erasmus Trust Fund, Michiel Muller, had the following to say about this unique operation<\/a>: \u201cDutch universities used to think that people would not donate any money to a university. But they are not donating because they haven\u2019t been asked to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lift a corner of the veil<\/h3>

Behind the scenes, wealthy alumni and well-known Rotterdammers and Rotterdam families have been asked for the past eighteen months whether they would be amenable to the idea of transferring some of their fortune to an endowment fund operated by the university. The idea was similar to that used one hundred years ago, when local entrepreneurs were asked to contribute money to the strengthening of the Netherlands School of Commerce, which went on to become EUR.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018By now quite a few alumni have heard of it, so we\u2019re expecting to see a flywheel effect, based on these first results\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKristel Baele\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

It was not until January 2016 that Erasmus Trust Fund Chairman Michiel Muller was willing to lift a corner of the veil. However, the exact target amount was not allowed to be published at the time. It should be noted that this target amount has not been adjusted in the past two years; at the time, as now, the target was rumoured to be \u20ac100 million raised over a ten-year period.<\/p>\n

Now that the first people are on board, the President of EUR\u2019s Executive Board, Kristel Baele, feels it is time they publicised the fund. \u201cBy now quite a few alumni have heard of it, so we\u2019re expecting to see a flywheel effect, based on these first results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not surprised <\/h3>

Baele is happy with the way things are going, but is not surprised to see that the university has such a great potential for fund-raising. \u201cEUR is actually a relatively easy university to raise funds for. We offer a wide range of research projects, many of which have a significant social component.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But just because all the donors are very wealthy does not mean they will simply transfer some money into the university\u2019s bank account. \u201cNo one will give even five euros to something that is useless,\u201d Muller explains. Muller, of course, is quite well off himself, being the entrepreneur behind Tango, Route Mobiel and, more recently, the Picnic online supermarket.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst we approached members of the Trust Fund, since we already knew them to take an interest in the university. And when the three Erasmus initiatives were drawn up, we had an exceptional good case for support,\u201d Muller explains.<\/p>\n

The first donor on board<\/h3>

Later donors who had already signed up presented them with the names of other potential donors. \u201cThe thing they all have in common is this sense that they want to give back to the institution that gave them a good education and therefore a good chance to make something of themselves. At some point in your life you\u2019ll get to the stage where you have enough money for yourself, and you\u2019ll want to share your wealth with others,\u201d is how EUR President Kristel Baele sums up the donors\u2019 motivation.<\/p>\n

The first donor on board was former banker and former Minister for Finance Onno Ruding, 78, who was a student at the Netherlands School of Economics (one of EUR\u2019s precursors) in the early 1960s. He provides the following explanation for his decision to donate to the fund: \u201cThroughout my life I have benefitted a great deal from what I learned here during my degree and during my years as a PhD student. That\u2019s why I want to do something in return.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruding does not wish to disclose how much he will be donating to the fund. However, he is willing to tell us how he would like to see his donation used. \u201cThe money will be in a special fund designed to fund specific activities, whose proceeds I would like to see used for research and teaching at the Faculty of Economics \u2013 for instance, for getting a visiting professor to Rotterdam. And some of the money will be earmarked for medical research. I will not tell the university exactly what kinds of projects to use it for, but I do look forward to being kept updated on their progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unique <\/h3>\n\t
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\n\t\t\u2018The money will be in a special fund designed to fund specific activities, whose proceeds I would like to see used for research and teaching at the Faculty of Economics\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOnno Ruding\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cFor a long time we all believed that the Netherlands wasn\u2019t like America or England, and that alumni don\u2019t donate large sums of money to universities here,\u201d says Muller, referring to the fact that the Rotterdam endowment fund is rather unique within the Dutch educational system. \u201cUntil a representative of Oxford University\u2019s endowment fund said to me at the celebration of the university\u2019s centennial, \u2018people aren\u2019t donating because they\u2019ve never been asked to.\u2019 That was an eye opener to me. And things went from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to give potential donors an idea of what sorts of projects their hard-earned money could be used towards, the university organised informal meetings with the professors involved in the projects and members of the board. On these occasions the professors would present their research, hoping to bring about a match between a researcher and a donor.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s not comparable to a sales pitch,\u201d says Muller. \u201cIt\u2019s not difficult for scientists to tell an enthusiastic story about their research. Moreover, this was an easy way for them to obtain funding for their research. Normally they\u2019d have to spend a large chunk of their time applying for funding for their research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Africa<\/h3>
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Sometimes things happened very quickly. \u201cWe had a donor who wished to fund research on the subject of obesity. After Liesbeth van Rossum, a professor at Erasmus MC, gave a presentation on her study of obesity, we had an instant match. She could have embarked on her study that very same day if she\u2019d wanted to,\u201d says Muller, remembering the meeting.<\/p>\n

But it was not just medical research that proved a hit with donors. Several philanthropists were interested in subjects such as a fair distribution of prosperity and studies of entrepreneurship. Another donor, having grown up in Africa, wanted to fund a healthcare study in Africa. \u201cThere were no two donors who wanted to support the same project,\u201d says Baele.<\/p>\n

Both Baele and Muller are keen to emphasise that the donors only have a say in the subject on which they wish to spend some money. They do not have a say in the actual content of the studies. \u201cThis money will not be spent on research conducted at someone else\u2019s behest. That is called commissioned research, and we have a holding company for that,\u201d says Baele. \u201cThis is all about the donor really wishing to contribute to high quality research carried out in the long term. This is not a way for donors to get lecture rooms and libraries named after them, either. That is done through the university at request, not through this endowment fund.\u201d\u00a0 Muller adds, \u201cOur donors trust that the university will put forward research projects that actually matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Endowment fund<\/h2>