Despite the lack of an official, large scale campaign-such as the Campaign for Duke, which raised more than $2.3 billion between 1996 and 2003-the University has raked in a substantial portion of its $270 million fiscal year goal.
The University is well on its way to reaching its goal of raising $270 million by the end June. Robert Shepard, vice president for university development, said Duke is 10 to 15 percent closer than they were at this time last year to reaching their goal for the fiscal year.
Despite the lack of an official, large scale campaign—such as the Campaign for Duke, which raised more than $2.3 billion between 1996 and 2003—the University continues to set ambitious goals.
There are, however, certain features unique to large scale efforts, such as a University-wide campaign.
“It’s a wonderful rallying point for many of our alumni and volunteers who take ownership [of the project],” Shepard said. “Without that type of campaign focus, it can be hard to maintain momentum.”
Thus far, though the University has had more than kept pace. Hank Woods, associate director of annual giving, is pleased with the contribution that the Annual Fund has made to this year’s overall increase in giving.
“We are pleased to be ahead this year in the Annual Fund, and it’s a continuation of the momentum we’ve built,” he said.
Peter Vaughn, director of communications and donor relations for the development office, attributes the increase in funds received to a rise in individual giving.
But the increase is not a clear indicator of a sudden wave of generosity.
“While this [increase] is at least partially attributable to new gifts—for instance, annual fund giving is up—it also reflects payments on previous pledges, many of which were made during the Campaign for Duke,” Vaughn said.
Out of the more than $2.3 billion pledged during the campaign, approximately 83 percent, $1.9 billion, was received by the time it closed at the end of 2003. Consequently, about $400 million remains to be collected during the current post-campaign period.
While the University has seen a number of changes since last year, particularly in its leadership, “in my opinion” said Vaughn, “[there are] none that would account for a significant change in giving.”
He also stressed that giving rates vary throughout the year. “This increase is not necessarily an indicator of how the year will end,” he said. “The current 13 percent increase over last year may be due to unique circumstances in mid-February 2005 versus the same period in 2004.”
Whether in a campaign or not, the fundraising never stops.
“We have an organization that continues to garner charitable gifts for all areas of the University,” Shepard said.
The financial contributions made to the University are consistently accompanied by a wide range of behind-the-scenes work.
“You can be sure that the development office is doing everything it can—specifically communicating and working with its donors in lots of ways—to maintain this progress, which we hope is in fact ‘a trend’,” Vaughn said.
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