Dismal economic times and a slow recovery from a recession have affected spending at all levels of education.
But for colleges and universities, private donations to endowments and scholarships have dipped each year since 2008, when donors cut back 5.7 percent nationally, according to the Chronicle for Education.
The last four years, though, have brought out the best in private support for Mississippi State University, which has seen its total of charitable giving increase by $29 million.
Tuesday, MSU announced a record $80.3 million in private gifts for the fiscal year 2011, a $15 million jump from 2010.
Though the record figure is just a couple million more than the previous high set in 2002, MSU”s donations have continuously trended upward in a down economy.
“Because large donations can impact how much money we bring in each year, there will always be peaks and valleys in your annual giving,” said John Rush, MSU vice president for development and alumni. “So what we”ve been able to do, growing our percentage of contributing alumni from 13 to 18 percent, reflects the commitment our donors have.
“Other schools are putting staff on furloughs and cutting back its workforce; we”ve been able to give pay raises.”
Mississippi State”s “StatePride” initiative, a collaboration between the MSU Foundation — the university”s fundraising arm — and MSU athletics private fundraising, branch, the Bulldog Club, has accounted for $40.3 million of scholarships and $24.1 million of faculty support donations since it started in 2009.
Of this year”s haul, a record $37 million will go toward athletics.
Strengthened by the football team”s success last season and the enthusiasm generated over the last two-plus years, MSU”s overall fundraising efforts, at least this year, have benefited.
The dual-donation approach used by Rush and MSU director of athletics Scott Stricklin, who often hit the fundraising trail together, is effective now but isn”t necessarily a long-term initiative.
Rush pointed out that in fiscal years 2002 and 2006, two of MSU”s top three private giving years since 2000, the MSU football team had a losing season in the fall.
Those same two fiscal years followed the 9/11 terrorism attacks and Hurricane Katrina. And in 2009, the Gulf Coast economy took another economic blow following the BP oil disaster.
“Don”t get me wrong; athletics creates an awareness you can”t get any other way,” Rush said. “But there”s been a greater correlation between when things are really bad, especially in our area, Mississippi State alumni stepping up and making a difference.”
The MSU Foundation has a hurdle most of the members of the Southeastern Conference — Rush uses the 11 other schools for comparison — rarely encounter: low corporate and high external foundation donations.
Three donor sources accounted for $33 million of the $80 million raised last year, but there were 17,263 total gifts made.
Mississippi State is strengthened by its amount of donors and longtime contributors like the Mize Foundation and the Riley Foundation. Rush said that while MSU has low corporate donations, the economic climate has affected those types of donations for schools who rely more on that source.
Still, MSU”s $300 million endowment is significantly lower than most schools in the SEC (The University of Mississippi boasts a $485 million endowment). Endowment money, while important to long-term projects and specific scholarships and programs, isn”t “petty cash.” Donors essentially invest in a mutual fund, and the university can”t deviate from what the donor wants to do.
Boosting foundation and corporate donations is the next step to strengthen MSU”s endowment.
Fundraisers have portfolios that contain 100-150 current donors and prospects, some of which won”t donate until three to five years down the road. Fundraisers are aided by Minneapolis-based philanthropy scout DonorCast, but MSU”s reach to “strangers” is still limited.
“To find an individual who may have an affiliation with the university is pretty tough,” Rush said. “They either have to already be involved or be a business partner with an alumnus. It”s like finding a needle in a haystack where you look for dollars beyond your graduates or you look to foundations in the state or region that have a cause similar to the institution and you try to pair those up. Our staff is working hard to keep breaking donation records.”
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