CAS Exceeds Capital Campaign Goals

A big pile of moneyIn 2009 SIUE rolled out it’s strategies for fund raising over the following five years. As the, “Defining Excellence,” campaign comes to a close the College of Arts and Sciences takes stock of their success and plans for the future.

“We have achieved our goal of 5.5 million,” CAS development director Craig Steiner shared, “we exceeded it actually.”

Initially tasked with raising five and a half million dollars over the course of the campaign the College of Arts and Sciences has collected $5.536 million with another $80,000 in donations still being processed. These totals include monetary donations by individuals and corporations as well as donations of resources to the college such as art, equipment, and supplies. The initial objectives were to raise 1.5 million dollars for scholarships and fellowships, 1 million for providing funds for visiting professors and artist, and three million for technology and equipment upgrades.

Some of the many notable contributions to the campaign included: the one hundred thousand dollar Ralph Axtell donation that set up an endowment fund for the Ecology and Organismal Biology Teaching Laboratory, the four hundred seventy six thousand dollar endowment from Melvin Kazeck that will provide funding for graduate assistant positions in geogarphy, and the four hundred fifty thousand dollars of artwork by Emilio Sanchez the worlds largest collection of his work. Gifts like these help to generate continual benefits for SIUE students for years to come. The majority of the campaign’s total was made up of fiscal donations which typically have specific goals designated by their donors.

“We have to be strategic with what we’re identifying so we can match up proposals with the right donors,” Steiner explained, “when you identify a need, you identify donors who may support something in that area.”

As this campaign comes to a close plans for the next long term fund raising strategy are being made. Since the Defining Excellence campaign was conceived the economic climate has changed drastically and the new strategy must take into account competition from a growing number of charities and non-profit organization as well as the changing financial needs and strategies of the university.

“It’s a competitive field out there, there are more charities out there than there were five years ago,” Steiner explained, “You don’t want to fund raise and not have it be in sync with the true goals of the university.”

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