FU News

Colleges and Universities A-Z Furman University
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<p>Furman Announces $400 Million Campaign That Will Focus on Boosting Endowment</p>

<p>Read The Greenville News Article</p>

<p>GREENVILLE, S.C—Furman University officials announced Friday, Oct. 26 that the school is launching a $400 million fundraising campaign that will focus on boosting the university’s endowment.</p>

<pre><code> The announcement came at a Friday night gala on campus attended by approximately 500 Furman alumni and friends.

The campaign, “Because Furman Matters,” began its “quiet” phase in July 2004, and Furman officials said that $225 million has been raised to this point. The campaign, slated to end June 30, 2011, is the largest ever by a private university in South Carolina as well as one of the largest by any of the nation’s liberal arts colleges. The dollar goal is twice as much as Furman raised in its last campaign, which ended in December 2002.

Doug Freeman of Jacksonville, Fla., a 1972 Furman graduate and member of the university’s Board of Trustees, is serving as campaign chair. Carl Kohrt of Columbus, Ohio, a 1965 Furman graduate, is chair of the Board of Trustees.

“The ‘Because Furman Matters’ campaign seeks donors who want to support the finest in higher education, who will provide endowments for student scholarships, professorships, student internships and research fellowships, and various programs outlined in our strategic plan,” said Furman president David E. Shi. “The donors have already funded the Charles H. Townes Center for Science in the initial phase of the campaign.

“While the campaign goal is breathtaking, it is crucial for Furman to cement its position as one of the nation’s finest liberal arts colleges. This campaign will allow us to close the gap between our resources and our aspirations.”

According to Mike Gatchell, Furman’s vice president for development, the university has received $20 million in new commitments from a handful of donors over the last few weeks. That includes a $1 million pledge from Furman president Shi and his wife, Susan.

“We have built a great deal of momentum for the campaign in the past few months, and this announcement comes at a perfect time,” Gatchell said. “It is particularly noteworthy that Susan and David Shi have made such a generous gift. It is one of the largest gifts any sitting president has ever made to a university campaign, and it demonstrates how committed the Drs. Shi are to their alma mater as well as to this campaign.”

The strategic objectives of the campaign include:
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<p>** Increasing financial aid for students through endowed scholarships</p>

<p>** Doubling number of faculty professorship endowments and permanently funding internship and faculty research programs</p>

<p>** Completing funding for the Charles H. Townes Center for Science</p>

<p>** Enhancing Furman’s leadership position in environmental sustainability by funding and endowing educational, operational and facility initiatives both on campus and in community</p>

<p>** Increasing endowments and resources for intercollegiate athletics, performing arts, leadership and service activities, spiritual exploration and other extra-curricular programs</p>

<p>** Expanding study-away programs and increasing participation through student financial aid and faculty resource endowments</p>

<p>** Increasing Furman’s influence statewide by endowing strategic programs that address key issues in South Carolina</p>

<p>** Endowing new faculty chairs and underwriting language instruction and travel programs in Asian Studies program</p>

<p>** Construction of a new teaching and performance complex for the Theatre Arts Department</p>

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<p>Interesting, but not news. Every college and U on the planet is chasing that holy grail. Rightly so. No way public coffers will enable places keeping up or upkeep. Furman's been doing pretty well in this area for a long time. Not much deferred maintenance on that spectacular campus.</p>

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<p>It is certainly news. It is the largest campaign to be completed by any liberal arts college in U.S. history.</p>

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<p>HOBY .. you're smoking something. $400 mill ain't close. It's significant, but not monumental in the world of LACs. There are a number of campuses that have gotten single gifts larger than that. Berry College (GA) is one. And you've probably never heard of it. It's nice, not earth shattering.</p>

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<p>Whistle Pig, you can see by the article below that $400 mil is significant. By the way, the Hollingsworth bequeath to Furman once fully realized is expected to be worth another $400 mil</p>

<p>From 1967-2004, individuals and foundations bestowed 135 higher education gifts that matched or exceeded that $50-million figure—with 53 of those gifts worth a jaw-*dropping $100 million or more. Topping the list was a $1 billion gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a Rhodes Scholar-type program for American students at Cambridge University in England. (UGA *student Semil Choski was a member of the inaugural Gates *Cambridge Scholar class in 2001, and the 2002 class *included two more UGA students—William Hollingsworth and Yi Lee—and alum Bonnie Ling.)</p>

<p>The largest gift to a private U.S. institution during that 37-year period was a $600 million bequest to Cal Tech from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Only six of the top 20 recipients were public institutions or systems, but three of those were Southeastern Conference schools. Arkansas, which just elevated the goal of its current capital campaign to $1 billion, was No. 1 on the publics list, thanks to a $300 million gift from Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s foundation. Vanderbilt (No. 14 overall) *received $178 million in stock from the *Ingram Charitable Fund, and LSU (No. 19) received $125 million in stock and gas-and-oil royalties from donor Claude Pennington. </p>

<p>Georgia institutions were well represented among the top 30. Emory ranked No. 7 with a gift of $295 million in stock from three charitable foundations. LaGrange College and Mercer University shared the No. 22 position with a combined gift of $123 million in real estate from Remer and Emily Fisher Crum. Emory appears again at No. 28, thanks to $105 million in stock from Robert W. Woodruff.</p>

<p>Another SEC school, the University of Mississippi, *appears on the list twice, with its school of education getting $100 million in stock from James and Sarah Barksdale and the university as a whole receiving a $60 million trust from the Joseph Bancroft charitable fund. </p>

<p>Size was no obstacle. Tiny Berry College in Rome, Ga. (enrollment: 1,900) received a charitable trust worth $55 million from J. Bulow Campbell. And two schools that didn’t exist—Ave Maria University ($200 million/2002) and the Frank Olin College of Engineering ($200 million/1997)—got mammoth starter gifts to get them off the ground. </p>

<p>All but 11 of the 135 gifts on The Chronicle list have been made since 1990, and the ones that really shook the *foundation of philanthropic giving came from TV Guide founder Walter Annenberg. In 1993, Annenberg gave $120 million to the University of Pennsylvania and another $120 million to the University of Southern California. *Adding to the gifts’ value was the fact that they were made in cash—and with no restrictions as to how the money should be used.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the informative piece. You've clearly illustrated the point about this campaign. Furman's is significant, especially for an LAC in SC. Been many campaigns of much larger amounts, many being private schools. Interesting information. Would seem parents, alums and anyone who can spell Furman, should hold onto their wallets. They're coming.</p>

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<p>Apparently some people are confused as to what a campaign is. This does not include charitable trusts or single contributions. And as for LAC capital campaigns, Furman's will likely be the largest to date, although it is close with Middlebury. Please check the records.</p>

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<p>Of course it will. Unless Furman's is different than virtually every fund-seeking campaign on the planet. And you can throw in the kitchen sink, probly.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Furman's will likely be the largest to date, although it is close with Middlebury. Please check the records.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Middlebury's campaign is $500 million, and is the largest ever undertaken by a liberal arts college.</p>

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<p>As noted in Furman's own release, they only claim it as "one of the largest."</p>

<p>Whatever, it's plenty of green.</p>

<p>It's funny though how only when one comes to fund raising and football do LACs wanna claim ... "we're just the little guys." And as to what counts, FU has said every new commitment ... aside from term life insurance and revocable commitments, i.e. those that can be cancelled or redirected. Kitchen sinks will count, as long as the U. gets to keep it.</p>

<p>Now, if it's one of those gold fawcetted washbasins from Dubai, that might be a pretty neat contribution! :cool:</p>