New LSU Foundation head begins work on strategic plan

G. Lee Griffin, the new head of the LSU Foundation, initially was brought in on an interim basis. But after discussions with officials at the various institutions for which the foundation raises money, the board and Griffin agreed on the need for a new strategic plan. Griffin will stay on indefinitely to implement the plan. “When I was running our bank, we sat down as a team and developed our three- to five-year plan,” says Griffin, retired chairman and CEO of Bank One of Louisiana, now Chase. “We agreed on our top priorities, because if you have too many goals or priorities, you find it difficult to accomplish any one or two things successfully.” All departments within the bank would adopt the plan, then do their respective planning based on the overall plan. Goals for individuals also would be tied to the plan. The foundation, LSU Alumni Association and Tiger Athletic Foundation recently completed the successful Forever LSU campaign; so it’s a good time for the campuses and the three fundraising organizations to take stock and look forward to the next campaign, whenever that might be, he says. While there has been some talk of merging the fundraising duties of the three organizations, Griffin says that idea isn’t on the table. There also have been discussions about making Griffin’s position a vice chancellor with the university, but the idea was rejected because of potential conflicts of interest. An electronic version of the Forever LSU campaign report can be read here. —David Jacobs