Forever Valpo Fundraising Campaign

[FieldGoodie05]

Copied from the Forever Valpo web page TODAY, April 14.

Campaign Progress
Raised to date: $175,070,858

Goal: $250,000,000

Dumb question, is this in addition to the published endowment I see on Wikipedia of $235.2 million? 

Or is $175 million our new total endowment?  Meaning our endowment has lessened through spend or general losses since the 2017 Wikipedia referenced total.

[vu72]

Copied from the Forever Valpo web page TODAY, April 14.

Campaign Progress
Raised to date: $175,070,858

Goal: $250,000,000

Dumb question, is this in addition to the published endowment I see on Wikipedia of $235.2 million? 

Or is $175 million our new total endowment?  Meaning our endowment has lessened through spend or general losses since the 2017 Wikipedia referenced total.

No, it is in addition to the 235 you wrote about.  Now, don't expect the total published next year to be over 400.  The current 175 committed is mostly pledges for future contributions due after some significant event like say, death! 

[FieldGoodie05]

Copied from the Forever Valpo web page TODAY, April 14.

Campaign Progress
Raised to date: $175,070,858

Goal: $250,000,000

Dumb question, is this in addition to the published endowment I see on Wikipedia of $235.2 million? 

Or is $175 million our new total endowment?  Meaning our endowment has lessened through spend or general losses since the 2017 Wikipedia referenced total.

No, it is in addition to the 235 you wrote about.  Now, don't expect the total published next year to be over 400.  The current 175 committed is mostly pledges for future contributions due after some significant event like say, death! 

Thanks for the clarification.  Saved me a good amount of research!

[crusader05]

https://www.valpo.edu/news/2018/05/01/endowed-fund-for-high-need-high-ability-students-established-by-valpo-alumni/

https://www.valpo.edu/news/?type=post&site=239&id=10096

There have been 2 announcements about new funds to the University in the last 2 weeks or so

[VULB#62]

  Super!

[crusadermoe]

Great to see "young" alumni stepping up with big gifts and joining the Board of VU.   

Thanks to the Conrad family!

[vu72]

New total posted:

$178,868,947, or 71.5% of the goal.

On March 7, I posted a total raised of $169,614,378.

That means that is two months they have raised a total of $9,254,569!!  Good work!! 

[vufan75]

I was told recently by what i consider a good source that as of now this Forever fundraising campaign should end by 2022 unless of course big money comes in perhaps unexpectedly sooner to change that timetable. So...not sure what that means for athletics fundraising but...i could guess. Hopefully in meantime Rec center funding continues and it gets built.


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[valpopal]

I am told the actual up-to-the-minute amount raised has reached just beyond the $180,000,000 mark.

[crusader05]

The official total is probably always a few million behind the actual total I'd imagine just because of legal reasons or holding some info back to have a separate press release at a more opportune time.

[crusadermoe]

Thanks for the campaign stat, VU72.   Very nice gain in past two months indeed! 

[vu72]

Wasn't sure where to post this so put it here.  A Lutheran College in Alabama is closing its doors after almost 100 years in existence.  Its background, which is similar to other Lutheran Colleges like Concordia Chicago or Concordia Nebraska, involved training students to be Lutheran pastors and teachers.  Unfortunately this institution wasn't as nimble as some is refocusing to adapt to changes in society and the church.

Here is the whole article:

https://blogs.lcms.org/2018/concordia-college-alabama-closes-nevertheless-dr-rosa-j-youngs-legacy-continues/

Here is one segment that I found particularly of interest:

CCA is not the first Synod college to close its doors for various reasons. Preceding the CCA closing were colleges in New Orleans (early 1900s); Conover, N.C. (1935); Oakland, Calif. (1973); Fort Wayne, Ind. (1977); Concordia, Mo. (1986); and Winfield, Kan. (1986).

The school also joins a growing list of colleges and universities, both public and private, that have closed or are likely to close their doors due to declining student enrollment, budget woes and other insurmountable challenges.

Referring to the efforts of the Board of Regents, Chief Transition Officer Dr. James Lyons Sr. told students and faculty, "I can lie down [at night] feeling very comfortable that this group of individuals did everything possible to keep this school afloat."

[crusadermoe]

Well thankfully Valpo is WELL ABOVE any dire threat of disbanding etc.   It is thriving in many ways. The week of Labor Day has always been one of my favoriteS of the year.   It's a fresh start in the college world and the sports world amps up dramatically.  College and pro football seasons start and the baseball stretch drive starts in earnest.

The week of Sept. 4 nationally is a universities' annual report card of sorts.     
1)   New year enrollment numbers finalize quickly afterward
2)   U.S. News rankings are released
3)   At VU, basketball season is typically announced near this time
4)   At VU, perhaps also a new tally on "Forever Valpo" campaign.  Wahoo!

[vu72]

New total just released!  Now $188,691,996 or 75.5% of goal.

That is an increase of $9,823,049 in just under two months.   

[vu72]

New total:  $190,139,286  That is an increase of $1,447,290 in the last month.  Pace is slowing but still moving forward!  Now at 76% of goal.   

[crusader05]

Yes, this will be the hardest part because it will be about asking from new donors you have hopefully been cultivating. That's supposedly part of the reason the President has brought in the new COO. He needs to be on the road twice as much.

I've also heard through the grapevine that the next priority for athletics is arena improvements but that they have been having trouble getting our athletic donors to committ

[VUGrad1314]

Why would they be having trouble getting them to commit? It feels like the need\desire for athletic upgrades is nearly universal. Is it the expense? Is it that we don't have many major athletic donors?

[vu72]

Why would they be having trouble getting them to commit? It feels like the need\desire for athletic upgrades is nearly universal. Is it the expense? Is it that we don't have many major athletic donors?

[/b]

Bingo!

[crusader05]

I believe that there are just not that many who prioritize Athletics that also have the money to fund it. It took years to get the money for the Track and that was just Five million.

[crusadermoe]

Was a new student union or library of current sizes sought out by any of the key donors?   or did the leadership sell it to them?

[VULB#62]

Interesting question, Moe.

[crusadermoe]

I thought so.   

There's no question that endowment is vital.  It has to be done constantly to build up the war chest.

However, endowment growth doesn't give any strong juice in the short term to enrollment.   Is every dollar of current expense being viewed through the lens of enrollment impact?  If not, it should become the lens and urgently!!    If the new crossing sidewalks and landscape changes are going to draw more students, then I salute that investment.

[vu72]

I'm hoping we'll get some updates on this drive at homecoming.  I'll try to get some info from Mark on athletics as well.

[sfnmman]

Was there an update on this campaign given at Homecoming?  It seems that all the air has been let out of the campaign.  The Forever Valpo webpages haven't been updated in a very long time and I haven't seen any news of significant donations.  What's happening?  The lack of information is somewhat discouraging.

[crusader05]

The Campaign is 75% finished and I believe the current funding page has it up-to-day at 190 million of the 250 raised. They tend to do announcements in chunks it seems, especially as many of the endowments are for general scholarships or endowed chairs. My guess is that we will see the President out and about the country a lot more over the next year or two to bring home the last bit. I think there was probably a lot of schmoozing with specific donors going on this Homecoming Weekend and several dedications of buildings and programs that were created through the fund like the new PA building and the Hilltop Gym Dedication.