To Ed Westerman (CGS'66, COM'68), the BUA vice president for alumni giving and the drive's other cochair, one of the most rewarding aspects of the project was the chance to reach out to a variety of donors - and to see them respond. The BUA "made an effort to touch everybody," he says, and those efforts paid off. More than 350 gifts totaling more than $137,000 were made by donors making their first-ever gifts to the University. Of the approximately 3,350 people who made gifts to the Marsh Plaza fund, more than 350 had never given to the University before.

Westerman and Ryan note that they tried to be as innovative and creative as possible. "We were one of the first groups to take advantage of the BU Web site [to publicize a fund drive], one of the first projects to receive contributions via the Web site," Westerman says. "We were looking for new ways for the University to raise funds for projects that alumni can feel good about."

The result? "It looks fantastic," says Ryan, who checks in often from her home in Minneapolis via the Plaza Cam on the BU Alumni Web (www.bu.edu/alumni/cam). "I don't think we'll have to go through this again for a long time." - based on "Fund Drive for BU's Hub Capped" by Bari Walsh (Bostonia, Summer 2000)