Departments
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17 July 1998 |
Vol. II, No. 2 |
Feature
Article
BU raises a record $61.4 million in FY 1998
Boston University's fundraisers toasted a third successive record-breaking year and set their sights on a fourth at a recent celebration in the George Sherman Union. Staff from the Offices of Development and Alumni Relations, University Relations, and Information Services were told at the "Third Banner Year" event that the $60 million goal set for the 1998 fiscal year had been achieved, with a total of $61,376,129 raised in gifts from alumni, corporations, and foundations. The new record represents a 22 percent gain over the previous record of $50.3 million in fiscal year 1997.
"We have now built a stronger infrastructure and devised a clear strategy for continued growth," said Christopher Reaske, vice president of development and alumni relations, announcing that the target for 1999 would be $72 million.
President Jon Westling described the fundraising success as one of the most exhilarating and heartening things happening at the University.
"To see Boston University beginning at long last to play in the league that it ought to be playing in and attracting the support of our constituencies suggests to me that we are surely doing something right," he told staff. "For that, your hard work and your dedication are deeply appreciated."
The purpose of the fundraising drive, he noted, is "not just the zeros after the six. Rather, the money raised and the support attracted enable Boston University to do what it exists to do."
Examples of this in the past year, Westling said, include the University's partnership agreement with the Lowell Observatory in Arizona; its aid to Professor of English Robert Pinsky, the U.S. poet laureate, and his Favorite Poem Project; the acquisition of the papers of the English novelist W. Somerset Maugham by Mugar Library's Special Collections; and the recruitment of the very best incoming freshmen class in the history of the University.
More generally, gift income goes toward the funding of modern classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratories, updated residence halls, new research and educational initiatives, and adequate financial support.
The fundraising momentum provides "a cycle of synergy," Westling added, which enables the University to attract better faculty members and students and to perform its work in education and research at ever higher standards.
Earlier, Reaske noted that at 22 percent, the increase in giving at BU far exceeds the 12.2 percent average increase in gifts to universities nationwide last year. Moreover, the current success comes on the heels of a dramatic increase in annual giving, from $37 million in fiscal year 1995 to $44 million in 1996 to $50.3 million in 1997.
"The size and steadiness of growth over the last three years shows the increasing commitment among our alumni and friends to the future of the University," he said.
According to Reaske, Westling's direct involvement in fundraising activities has been instrumental in boosting support for the University. In the last year alone, he said, the president has met with alumni and other prospective donors in Florida, Texas, California, Baltimore, Washington, Japan, and Hong Kong.