Less than a quarter of the way into its $200 million fundraising campaign, Ball State University has raised 85 percent of its goal.
The university announced that the Ball State Bold: Investing in the Future campaign reached $170.2 million the past weekend. The campaign began September 2008 and will go until June 2011.
Ben Hancock, vice president for university advancement, said he was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the campaign has raised money. He said he felt fortunate that people and companies have responded so well to the campaign despite economic problems.
Hancock attributed much of the success to a broad base of donors. Ball State has seen an increase of 10 percent to 20 percent in the amount of donors from the past fiscal year to this one. He said one of the goals of the campaign was to increase alumni participation by 25 percent and to see such an increase in donors so quickly was exciting. Hancock said 26 people or companies have each given gifts of $1 million or more during the campaign.
He said he's heard of a lot of colleges and non-profit organizations having trouble getting donations lately. A lot of those institutions consider it a win if they keep the same amount of donors and raise the same amount of money.
"A lot of colleges are calling flat the new up," he said.
People are excited about the direction of the university, Hancock said, and are making Ball State a priority.
The money raised during the campaign is being used as it comes in, he said. The money is being used to fund more scholarships and immersive learning opportunities, among other things. He said the campaign has raised about 60 percent of its goal for scholarships and about 40 percent of its goal for immersive learning projects, he said.
Another positive aspect of the Bold campaign is the number of volunteers Ball State has, he said. People around the country are helping make it successful by volunteering at fundraising events doing other work. Hancock said the biggest campaign event since the kickoff in September is this weekend in Indianapolis.
"[The volunteers] are so proud of Ball State and want to see the university succeed," he said. " ... To me that's one of the real success stories of this campaign."
More info
- Campaign started September 2008, ends June 2011
- $200 million campaign, $170.2 million raised, 85 percent
- 26 donors have given $1 million or more
- Reached 60 percent of goal for scholarships, 40 percent for immersive learning projects
- Campaign goal to increase alumni participation 25 percent over whole campaign, increased 10 to 20 percent from last fiscal year
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