NC State is in the midst of its most ambitious fundraising campaign and donors are responding in extraordinary, record-setting fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The university received $224.8 million<\/strong> in gifts and pledges for the 2016-17 fiscal year that ended June 30 \u2013 the highest one-year giving total in NC State history and a 39 percent increase over 2015-16. This private support from alumni, faculty and staff, students, and other friends and partners boosts every aspect of campus life \u2013 from scholarships and fellowships to professorships, program support and buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the giving highlights for last year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the transformational gifts received during 2016-17 were the Golden LEAF Foundation\u2019s investment in <\/a>the Plant Sciences Initiative<\/a> and a commitment from Ann and Jim Goodnight that has expanded the Goodnight Scholars Program<\/a> to include transfer students who have earned associate degrees from North Carolina community colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To really be a great university, it takes philanthropy \u2013 it takes additional resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u00a0Plant Sciences Initiative<\/a>\u00a0is a partnership between the university and the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services designed to make North Carolina the primary global hub for plant sciences and agricultural innovation. Its home will be a $160.2 million research complex planned for Centennial Campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2008, the Goodnight Scholars Program<\/a> has provided the full cost of attendance for selected high-achieving North Carolina students from low- and middle-income backgrounds who are majoring in STEM and STEM-education fields. The addition of 10 transfer students means that there will be 210 Goodnight Scholars on campus for 2017-18, with 50 selected from each incoming freshman class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving participation is also on the rise at NC State:<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the fiscal year, the university received gifts from all 100 counties in North Carolina, all 50 states and 43 other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university has been building fundraising momentum. Gift receipts, an important measure of \u201ccash in the door,\u201d totaled just under $145 million, marking the sixth consecutive year that receipts have exceeded $100 million. Gifts and new commitments have averaged $197.4 million over the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNC State has been on a strong upward trajectory since the arrival of Chancellor Randy Woodson in 2010,\u201d said Brian Sischo, vice chancellor for university advancement. \u201cTo unleash our potential as a truly world-class university, we need to continue working hard to develop a strong culture of philanthropy and engagement. We\u2019re tremendously grateful for the leadership of our Campaign co-chairs \u2013 Jimmy and Vickie Clark, Lawrence and Sarah Davenport, Jim and Ann Goodnight, and Lonnie and Carol Poole \u2013 and for every volunteer and donor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are so many great things happening at this institution. I\u2019m excited that the word is getting out and more people want to be part of what\u2019s going on at NC State.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university launched its five-year Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign<\/a> publicly on October 28, with the goal of raising $1.6 billion to better position NC State as an educational, economic and research powerhouse \u2013 for North Carolina and beyond. The Campaign\u2019s priority areas are extraordinary opportunity, purpose, places, experience and leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Campaign\u2019s total stood at $1.04 billion at that public launch, through the end of its silent phase. At the June 30 fiscal-year mark, the total raised was $1,115,888,330 \u2013 72 percent of the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The chancellor said that fundraising is closely aligned with the university\u2019s strategic vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI tell everyone we can be a very good university with state support, but we can\u2019t settle for being very good. To really be a great university, it takes philanthropy \u2013 it takes those additional resources,\u201d Woodson said. \u201cAll of our goals for the Campaign are tied to our strategic plan. We put student success front and center, and that means not only increasing scholarships but the efforts that we\u2019ve put into supporting students while they\u2019re here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve built living and learning villages in our residence halls to support our students, for example. We\u2019ve improved advising. We\u2019ve put better information technology tools in the hands of our faculty and students to help them navigate a very complex university. We\u2019re also very focused on providing more opportunities for our students to participate in study abroad, undergraduate research and other high-impact experiences that position them for success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donor support is vital to improving the student experience, Woodson said, and to another key strategic goal: a commitment to attracting and retaining outstanding faculty who are leaders in education and in collaborative discovery that addresses the world\u2019s biggest challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll of what we\u2019ve done in recent years has been with the focus on having the best faculty in the country, and a lot of that comes with financial investment,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve created 54 new distinguished professorships in the past five years that are named by donors to support our faculty. That goes a long way in making sure we have the right faculty to inspire students and to lead innovative research and important partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo compete for those top professors, especially with the best public universities, a floor that everyone shoots for is around 20 percent of your faculty in endowed positions. We would like to get to 400 distinguished professorships and we\u2019re about halfway there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to achieving the $1.6 billion goal, Woodson said, a successful Campaign means helping NC State maintain its momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo many people are passionate about this university, and we need to keep making connections and engaging our entire community in our vision,\u201d he said. \u201cNC State has always been a place of opportunity and an institution that gets things done. It\u2019s exciting to build on our legacy in even bigger and bolder ways. We\u2019re proud of the progress that we\u2019re making together, and I\u2019m confident that NC State has a tremendous future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This post was originally published<\/a> in Giving News.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n NC State is in the midst of its most ambitious fundraising campaign and donors are responding in extraordinary, record-setting fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university received $224.8 million<\/strong> in gifts and pledges for the 2016-17 fiscal year that ended June 30 \u2013 the highest one-year giving total in NC State history and a 39 percent increase over 2015-16. This private support from alumni, faculty and staff, students, and other friends and partners boosts every aspect of campus life \u2013 from scholarships and fellowships to professorships, program support and buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the giving highlights for last year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the transformational gifts received during 2016-17 were the Golden LEAF Foundation\u2019s investment in <\/a>the Plant Sciences Initiative<\/a> and a commitment from Ann and Jim Goodnight that has expanded the Goodnight Scholars Program<\/a> to include transfer students who have earned associate degrees from North Carolina community colleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To really be a great university, it takes philanthropy \u2013 it takes additional resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u00a0Plant Sciences Initiative<\/a>\u00a0is a partnership between the university and the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services designed to make North Carolina the primary global hub for plant sciences and agricultural innovation. Its home will be a $160.2 million research complex planned for Centennial Campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2008, the Goodnight Scholars Program<\/a> has provided the full cost of attendance for selected high-achieving North Carolina students from low- and middle-income backgrounds who are majoring in STEM and STEM-education fields. The addition of 10 transfer students means that there will be 210 Goodnight Scholars on campus for 2017-18, with 50 selected from each incoming freshman class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving participation is also on the rise at NC State:<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the fiscal year, the university received gifts from all 100 counties in North Carolina, all 50 states and 43 other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university has been building fundraising momentum. Gift receipts, an important measure of \u201ccash in the door,\u201d totaled just under $145 million, marking the sixth consecutive year that receipts have exceeded $100 million. Gifts and new commitments have averaged $197.4 million over the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNC State has been on a strong upward trajectory since the arrival of Chancellor Randy Woodson in 2010,\u201d said Brian Sischo, vice chancellor for university advancement. \u201cTo unleash our potential as a truly world-class university, we need to continue working hard to develop a strong culture of philanthropy and engagement. We\u2019re tremendously grateful for the leadership of our Campaign co-chairs \u2013 Jimmy and Vickie Clark, Lawrence and Sarah Davenport, Jim and Ann Goodnight, and Lonnie and Carol Poole \u2013 and for every volunteer and donor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are so many great things happening at this institution. I\u2019m excited that the word is getting out and more people want to be part of what\u2019s going on at NC State.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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