Private and philanthropic fundraising has been a common practice for private schools and is now a resource that Arizona’s public universities and community colleges are turning to as a way to raise funds as state funding continues to dwindle.
Arizona State University, on Friday, January 27, begun a $1.5 billion capital campaign called Campaign ASU 2020. It is the first fundraising campaign under ASU President Michael Crow’s leadership.
ASU started out with a quiet campaign contacting friends and alumni before kicking off their major campaign. From their pre-launch phase of the 2020 campaign, ASU raised $1 billion from over 260,000 alumni and friends.
The goal of ASU is to reach another $500 million by 2020.
The ASU Foundation, in the last five years, has boosted its new gifts and commitments annual total from $88 million to $216 million. The goal for the foundation is to raise annually $250 million by 2025.
While these fundraising efforts are helping the university, it does not substitute state funding or tuition. These fundraisers help to advance the quality of programs. Those who donate to the university usually specify where the money will go. Often it will go to a specific scholarship, support toward the faculty, or a certain research program.
Capital campaigns aren’t foreign to ASU, they launched Campaign for ASU in 1985 that raised $114 million in three years. Also between 1997 and 2002, $560 million was raised for the ASU Campaign for Leadership.
Community colleges are also doing fundraising efforts. For the first time, Mesa Community College reached out to its alumni to receive donations. Last year, MCC begun this effort and 173 gave during the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
The Maircopa County Community College District (MCC’s parent) lost all state funding in 2015.
Knowing that this would occur around five years ago, the district began a $50 million fundraising campaign that has raised about $43 million. The district, consisting of 10 colleges, has reached out to corporations, philanthropists, and employees for funds.
