|
Campaign close to
$1 billion goal
By Bill Sublette
At
a stage when most fund-raising campaigns begin to lose momentum,
the Campaign for the University of Virginia has just completed its
most successful year to date. Gifts, pledges and other commitments
received during the University's 1998-99 fiscal year amounted to
nearly $198 million, bringing the campaign total to almost $937
million, or 94 percent of the $1 billion goal.
"This
exceeds by $28 million our best previous year, which was 1995-96.
That was the year we publicly kicked off the campaign, and that
is traditionally the most successful in a fund-raising effort of
this kind," said Robert D. Sweeney, vice president for development.
"Our alumni and friends have gotten behind this campaign in
an extraordinary way."
Sweeney
said that the campaign's progress in 1998-99 was fueled by an extraordinary
number of large gifts. The University received 153 commitments of
$100,000 or more, including 24 of $1 million or more and five of
$10 million or more. At the same time, the campaign has enjoyed
a broad base of support from alumni, parents and non-alumni who
participate through annual giving. Annual gifts to the University
-- typically unrestricted contributions made in response to telephone
or direct mail solicitations -- totaled more than $18 million in
1998-99.
Of
the $937 million received in the campaign by June 30, the end of
the 1998-99 fiscal year, by far the largest share, $382 million,
came from alumni of the University. Non-alumni parents of current
or recent students gave nearly $13 million, and other individual
donors contributed $196 million. Corporations provided $136 million,
and $210 million came from foundations and other organizations.
Scheduled
to conclude Dec. 31, 2000, the U.Va. campaign began in the early
1990s and was publicly launched Oct. 6, 1995, with a goal of $750
million.
The
campaign's subsequent progress, buoyed by a strong economy and successful
financial markets, prompted the Board of Visitors to raise the campaign
target to $1 billion in February 1998.
The
new goal included a $100 million objective for 'future support,"
such as bequests, gifts of retirement fund assets and similar estate
gifts. By the end of the 1998-99 fiscal year, the campaign had exceeded
its $100 million future support goal by nearly $12 million.
"This
will be a tremendous source of strength for the University in the
decades ahead," Sweeney said.
In
a recent letter to volunteers and donors, campaign co-chairs Edward
C. Mitchell Jr. and Thomas A. Saunders III wrote, "With the
gifts received, the University is elevating the stature of its academic
programs, making its athletics teams more competitive, improving
the quality of health care and preserving Mr. Jefferson¹s architectural
legacy."
|
