Administrators across the University said development in January was strong, despite a spectacular sprint finish to the Campaign for Duke that could have exhausted fundraisers and donors alike.
"The world out there thinks we pass a deadline and stop fundraising, but that's not true," said Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences William Chafe, who helped Arts and Sciences and Trinity College raise nearly $418 million during the campaign. "Even though the campaign is over, we actually continue to get significant gifts."
The Campaign for Duke brought in over $2.36 billion, the fifth-largest sum in American higher education history. Administrators had originally set their sights on $1.5 billion when the campaign took off in 1998, but raised the goal to $2 billion in 2000 and unofficially to $2.2 billion in 2003 when it became clear that greater ambitions were practicable. Each of the campaign's 10 divisions surpassed its fundraising goal by the Dec. 31, 2003, deadline.
"In terms of long-term trends, it's too early to tell what post-campaign fundraising will be like, but things have not slacked off at all," said Robert Shepard, vice president for development.
At the Divinity School, fundraising has been going well since the campaign ended. Gaston Warner, director of development for the Divinity School, said a donor funded a scholarship just last week and the school anticipates more significant gifts. "There's excitement to being part of a campaign, to being a part of a big mission," he said. "But people understand that there is still a big mission after the campaign stops."
Shepard noted that a number of January gifts were being negotiated before the Campaign for Duke ended. "We have been working with many donors over the years, and in at least some cases, the timing of the campaign didn't necessarily mesh perfectly with the donors' timing," he said. "For whatever reason, some people could not make pledges in the last year of the campaign, but they're coming through in 2004."
He added that the University's continuing needs have fueled post-campaign fundraising. "By definition, a campaign has a beginning and an end, but the University's needs and priorities continue beyond that," he said. "For example, the need for endowment for financial aid: Even though we met the campaign's goal, it does not complete the need."
Shepard noted that there were also a number of projects that came online toward the end of the campaign, including several building projects that were initiated in the last couple of years, for which fundraising is still necessary.
Warner said the biggest challenge of post-campaign fundraising is making sure potential donors do not think Divinity, which raised over $102 million during the Campaign for Duke, already has all the resources it needs.
"We don't want people to get an idea that we've put all this money in a bank vault somewhere," Warner said. "In reality, it's already been put to really great uses, and was able to start programs that now need to be continued. So in a lot of ways it's important that we keep going."
To combat notions that the Divinity School does not need more money, Warner said, the school has made a list of the differences future gifts can make. "We demonstrate the power behind the money," he said.
Thomas Hadzor, associate dean of external relations at the School of Law, said new initiatives are also coming online constantly, furthering the need for more resources. The School of Law raised over $67 million during the campaign.
"For the law school and probably many other areas, there is no lack of new ideas and new initiatives, which harkens back to a great Terry Sanford quote about outrageous ambition," Hadzor said. "These ambitions obviously generate needs for resources."
In some cases, the Campaign for Duke's success, rather than creating a sense that fundraising should be on a hiatus, has actually been instrumental in piquing donors' interest.
"The momentum in December was phenomenal--like nothing I have ever experienced before--and it hasn't abated," said Peggy Glenn, associate dean of external affairs at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. The Nicholas School was arguably the biggest winner in the campaign, raising over $137 million, or 229 percent of its goal, and securing a $72 million gift from campaign co-chairs Peter and Ginny Nicholas Dec. 31. Glenn said the Nicholases' gift has galvanized interest in the school.
Susan Ross, director of development for Athletics, said the Campaign for Duke gave higher visibility to her department's goals--a bonus she hopes will continue throughout the year. "It was good for Athletics to be part of the campaign because there was recognition that what people gave to Athletics was valued by the whole University," she said.
Fundraisers secured over $152 million for intercollegiate athletics during the campaign. Ross said Athletics is currently working on its own mini-campaigns for each of its capital projects, including a $5 million campaign for women's athletic scholarships and a $6 million campaign for a new golf facility.
"We're going to continue to try to meet the needs that the coaches and athletics director have established," Ross said. "I don't foresee a day when we'll say it's all done."
Chafe said Arts and Sciences is currently seeking and securing more money for a number of initiatives, including faculty support, financial aid and the FOCUS program.
In addition to lauding the campaign's momentum, which has carried over for the divisions' individual fundraising efforts, administrators hope the trans-division unity established during the campaign will endure. "We're trying to make sure that our efforts don't fragment, that we still have what we call the 'Big D' here," Shepard said. "We've lost the umbrella of the campaign, but the cooperation that has been put in place continues."
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