Advancing Oxy’s Mission Through Philanthropic Cultivation and Support of Faculty Partners
About 12% of Occidental’s total revenue (approximately $17 million) comes from institutional, government, and corporate grants and private gifts. Identifying, securing, and stewarding these vital contributions, and nurturing the relationships that make them possible, is the responsibility of Institutional Advancement at Oxy. The Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) is part of Institutional Advancement, and plays a key role in advancing Oxy’s mission through philanthropic support.
The OSI team advances Oxy’s work in the following ways:
-
Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR): We maintain Oxy’s relationships with foundation and corporate funders. We identify funding sources, manage the submission of proposals in alignment with College policies and procedures, and steward corporate and foundation grants/gifts in multiple ways, including overseeing site visits from funders and creating reports that tell grantors how their funds were spent and what their support has made possible.
-
Support of Faculty: We are available to assist faculty in pursuing grant and fellowship funding opportunities, offer preparation, editing, and administrative support for faculty’s proposals, and ensure timely submission of funding requests.
-
Individual Giving Support: We collaborate with various divisions of Institutional Advancement to provide support in the process of requesting and stewarding gifts from individual donors.
OSI Collaborates Closely with the Sponsored Research Office
Sponsored Research Office (SRO): SRO is often the first resource faculty connect with in the process of seeking external funding of all types (governmental and private), and is responsible for all Federal proposal submissions in particular. SRO helps with submitting proposals, administering awards, and ensuring compliance with College and sponsor policies. Sponsored Research connects our OSI team with faculty who request our editing, reviewing, and administrative support throughout any stage of the grant-seeking process. We also work with SRO to identify funding opportunities and strategize ways of sharing those opportunities with faculty. SRO also manages fiscal responsibilities associated with external funding. They manage post-award grant administration, assist in preparing budgets, manage expenditures, and prepare financial reports for funders. We work with SRO on grant budgets, as well as the reporting process for grants that require a record of expenditures.