One year after Ball State University launched its "Ball State Bold: Investing in the Future" campaign to raise $200 million by 2011, the university announced Friday it obtained 88 percent of its goal.
Ball State Bold is a fundraising campaign the university started to subsidize campus improvements, such as renovations to the Ball State Museum of Art, building the Glick Center for Glass and the creation of new immersive-learning opportunities and scholarships, according to its Web site.
Ben Hancock, vice president for university advancement, said Ball State Bold's progress and the support the university has received from alumni and other donors is "nothing short of phenomenal."
"What it says is people really are supportive, and they're making Ball State a priority with the limited resources they have," he said.
The Ball State Bold campaign had a "soft" start July 1, 2004, Hancock said. It was announced as a public initiative Sept. 5, 2008 with approximately $122.8 million raised, he said. Ball State Bold is scheduled to end June 30, 2011, after about seven years - a typical amount of time for major campaigns - of fundraising, Hancock said.
In President Jo Ann Gora's latest faculty address Aug. 21, she said the campaign's total revenue was $176,157,807, an increase of approximately $53.4 million since the release of last year's total. To date, Ball State announced that 27 individuals or groups have donated gifts of $1 million or more and another 108 have donated at least $100,000.
Ball State Bold is the university's third fundraising campaign that Hancock said he could remember.
"As a campaign goes, I'd say that this one has been extremely successful, especially when you consider the state of the economy for that past 12 months," he said.
Ball State Bold is also ahead of its fundraising targets, Hancock said. The university originally hoped to have collected anywhere from $160 million to $165 million by now, well under the $176.2 million raised so far, he said. When people donate to Ball State, Hancock said he sees their donations as votes of confidence. It means people like what they see and hear about Ball State, he said.
"It really makes you feel like you're on the right track," Hancock said. "And frankly, given the economy, to be on track and actually be ahead of schedule... we are just so fortunate."
The money raised is not going to be held until 2011 to start upgrading the university, he said.
"From the time we received the first donations, we put them to work immediately," Hancock said.
Ball State Bold money has already been used to support renovations to the Ball Honors House, the Bold and Floyd Leadership scholarships and the new Student Recreation and Wellness Facility, he said.
Although Hancock said Ball State is on track to meet its $200 million goal by 2011, there's still more to do.
"Our goal isn't just to get there; we really want to do extremely well in the last two years," he said. "The projects that need to be funded are just as important to the university as the ones that have already been funded."
Every donation counts, whether it's 10 dollars or $10 million, Hancock said. To make a donation, go online to cms.bsu.edu/Giving/HowtoMakeaGift.aspx
Ball State Bold timelineJuly 1, 2004: quiet campaign start date
Sept. 5, 2008: public campaign start date; $122.8 million raised
Aug. 21, 2009: almost one year after public campaign began; $176.2 million raised
June 30, 2011: campaign end date; goal of $200 million
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