Fund
raising holds up during economic crunch
By Amy Cucinella
On-line Forty-Niner
A
sense of professionalism and a great story
are to credit for Cal State Long Beach’s
fund raising achievements during the economically
troubled fiscal year of 2001-2002, said
Bob Bersi, vice president for university
relations and development.
“The country is experiencing the most massive
loss of wealth in generations,” Bersi said.
“In times like this, professionalism and
good fundamentals really pay off in our
fund raising efforts. Plus, CSULB has a
great story. People understand it, like
it and want to help.”
Although CSULB reached more than 95 percent
of its targeted goal for the 2001-2002 fiscal
year, bringing in over $24 million, fund
raising throughout the California State
University system suffered as a whole.
While fund raising throughout the CSU system
increased 3.8 percent to a record $257.2
million last year, more than half the campuses
raised less money than they had the previous
year, according to a public affairs report
on the California State University Web site.
This decrease in revenue is not a failure
of the campuses but is related to the decline
in the stock market and reduction of capital
gains, said Clara Potes-Fellow, public affairs
spokeswoman for the CSU system.
“Individuals are unable to give as much
as before,” Potes-Fellow said. “But the
campuses are diligent and this can be seen
by the fact that the overall number of donors
increased last year but the total amount
was reduced. So people are still giving.
They’re just giving less.”
The loss in fund-raising revenue is a phenomenon
that is occurring nationwide. In California,
this decline can also be understood as correlating
with the state deficit, Potes-Fellow said.
Four campuses led the fund-raising charge
last year, bringing in 56 percent of the
total new funding for the CSU system.
San Diego State came in on top raising $52.7
million, next was Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
with $44.3 million, then CSULB with $24.2
million, and finally Fresno State with $23
million, according to the public affairs
report.
“Those schools tell their stories well,”
Belosi said, in explaining why these four
schools seemed to fare better than others
in their fund raising activities. “Also,
they are highly organized at identifying
potential donors, cultivating a relationship
and then soliciting their help.
“Contact, contact, contact,” Belosi said
of the importance of staying in touch with
alumni and other donors. CSULB’s great
alumni association has also been partly
responsible for the university’s fund raising
success, he added.
Although many people may currently be strapped
for cash, CSULB offers other donation options
that are becoming increasingly popular,
Belosi said. Such options include
deferred giving, where donors include the
university in their estate, or annuity giving,
where the university acquires an estate
but pays the donor a much higher interest
rate than he could otherwise get with a
bank.
Options such as these are often preferred
by the university and by the donor because
it is more of a partnership than a handout,
Belosi said.
“Instead of palm-up fund raising, this is
more of a hand shake,” Belosi said. “We
become partners. That’s how you build celebrity
universities like Harvard and Stanford.”
In addition, these types of donations are
vital to endowment building, Belosi said.
Endowment building, the cornerstone of revenue
generated in universities such as Harvard
and Stanford, is essential to CSULB’s future
success, Belosi added.
“The main thing is to continue to build
endowment,” Belosi said. “Never lose
sight of that. We’re building it now and
we’re doing it well.”
In the past three years, CSULB has generated
$37 million in endowments, which is ahead
of the five-year target goal of $50 million,
Belosi said.
“Everybody stood for something in their
life and what better place than a university
to propagate these values? A university
is the best place to invest and people come
to realize this and turn to CSULB,” Belosi
said.
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