Ohio University’s Promise Lives Campaign is promoted as a comprehensive fundraising plan, yet less than one thousandth of one percent of donors have contributed 84 percent of the money.
So far, $353.46 million of the $419.31 million raised in the campaign has come from gifts of more than $1 million from 31 donors — with $227.95 million coming from two large donations, according to University Advancement data.
The campaign started in July 2007 and runs through June 30, 2015. OU expects to exceed its $450 million target based on how the campaign is performing, with 93 percent of the goal currently met, according to Associate Vice President for Development and Campaign Manager Jim Hill.
“We are going to push beyond that goal of $450 million,”OU President Roderick McDavis said at the Feb. 8 Board of Trustees meeting. “This number is one thing but what is behind it (is more important).”
A particular focus for the last two years of the campaign is scholarship fundraising, Hill said.
“I think the biggest impact students at OU will feel (from the campaign) will be on the scholarship side of things,” said Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student Affairs. “It’s not something you’d feel walking across campus but you’ll feel it when the bill comes.”
Of the money raised by 64,138 donors so far, about 45.9 percent has gone to endowments — totaling $192.68 million — that generate income from the initial investment for university use, typically to the tune of 4 percent, according to the data.
The remaining money raised is going toward construction projects and immediate use by various colleges, units, scholarship funds and other entities.
“Once in place, endowments provide permanent support for teaching and research, student aid and an abundance of other academic programs and activities,” Hill said.
OU recently announced its total endowment had topped $400 million, a major milestone for the institution, Hill said.
Only a small part of the campaign’s funds stem from planned gifts that defer their contribution until a later date, such as a will or trust, reaching almost 15 percent of total fundraising, according to the data.
Of the pledged gifts, Hill believes the majority of the money will be in OU’s coffers by 2020, five years after the end of the campaign.
“It’s about the strategic plan for the university and how the fundraising can support the strategic plan of the university,” Hill said. “It’s (about) finding that connection between the donor and the university and what OU’s plan and vision is.”
dd195710@ohiou.edu
