Building a culture of philanthropy in Australia with Jen Karlson

For this Alumless World edition, Ryan and Chris go global — and a little personal, since the University of Queensland is one of Ryan’s alma maters. They’re joined from Brisbane by Jennifer Karlson, Vice-President for Advancement and Community Engagement at UQ, for a candid look at building a culture of philanthropy outside the US model. An American who left the University of Wisconsin for Brisbane nearly a decade ago, Jen reflects on the leap — the paperwork, the four-plus years it took to feel settled, and why the chance to run a university’s first-ever comprehensive campaign was impossible to turn down. She and Chris compare US and Australian advancement with real nuance: the maturity curve UQ had to climb, the confidence gap around a first campaign, and why the tired line that “Australians aren’t as philanthropic” doesn’t hold up against a culture built on mateship and deep community service. Along the way: why sport isn’t the engagement engine it is in the Big Ten (and why that’s oddly liberating), and the work of helping deans see fundraising as core to their role. Jen also walks through UQ’s “Not If, When” campaign — a first comprehensive effort that moved from a $250M target to a $500M public goal and closed around $650M in 2020 — and the parallel internal engagement goal that mattered just as much. Plus: keeping touch with 375,000 alumni across 190 countries, mobilizing volunteers on the ground, and how the Queensland Commitment is extending the work into community engagement and educational equity across the state. Presenting sponsors for Season 4: Protopia, AlumniQ, Richmond Associates, and Version2.AI by Givzey.