Learning from the American Fundraising Model: A European Perspective March 2014 | Page 14

04. a risk
management
strategy
Paul De Knop, Rector,
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium),
Class of 2009
Perhaps surprisingly, one of the goals of Paul
De Knop, rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, is to reduce the proportion of government
funding in its budget. But while some institutions might be happy to rely on government
funding, De Knop sees this as “dangerous.”
Looking to the future, his strategy in seeking
alternative funding sources is one of risk management.
The university currently covers about 86 percent of its budget with funding from a range of
government bodies – from the European Commission to the Belgian and Flemish governments. “For me, that’s much too much,” he says.
“Look at what’s happening in Spain and Italy,
where they have government budget cuts and
professors are having their salaries reduced by
25 percent.”
Given this risk, De Knop would like to see the
university’s funding split into thirds, with o