The University exceeded its Capital Campaign fundraising projections for 2005, representatives of the Development Office told the Board of Visitor's External Affairs committee at yesterday's BOV meeting.
The philanthropic cash totaled $128.88 million, 16 percent more than what was raised in 2004 and the second largest fundraising year in the history of the University, according to the briefing led by Robert Sweeney, senior vice president for development and public affairs. December was the second largest fundraising month on record, with $67.3 million raised, Sweeney added.
The unexpected success can be attributed to a number of organizational changes, including enhanced collaboration between Alumni and Development Offices, according to Sweeney.
Sweeney said that these changes, coupled with the Capital Campaign's ambitious $3 billion target, had made him nervous about last year's prospects.
The successful fundraising bodes well for the campaign heading into this year. At the end of 2005, a total of $800.2 million was raised, said Committee member Gordon Rainey, Jr. Development office projections suggest that the campaign will surpass the goal of $1 billion by the end of September 2006, Rainey said.
Much of the increase in giving was attributed to efforts to reach out to individual donors, a category of giving that climbed by 11 percent from last year. Many of the outreach efforts are still being implemented, Sweeney said.
In the coming years, all parents and alumni will receive alumni magazines and be invited to participate in University clubs and travel programs in hopes that increased involvement with the school will increase the number of donations, Sweeney said.
"I believe that we can match the Ivies in giving from parents as we are already at the top of the publics," he said.
Despite the notable increases in fundraising, the Board noted that there were still areas to improve.
Some Board members suggested grandparents and international student families could be particularly promising donors. Sweeney said he would explore efforts to tap these groups more aggressively but explained that it has been more cost effective to seek out large donations locally rather than abroad. Bringing the campaign overseas is the next step, he added, because there is interest in the University by families abroad.
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