UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State released results showing that support from alumni and friends continues at near record-breaking levels. In the fiscal year ending June 30, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students remained ahead of schedule, reaching $1.85 billion toward its goal of $2 billion by June 30, 2014. The 2012-13 total includes almost $264 million in new commitments, up more than 18 percent from last year.
“The campaign’s focus on Penn State students has resonated in powerful ways with our alumni and friends, and enthusiasm for supporting the University is strong and growing as we head into the final 12 months of For the Future,” said Rodney P. Kirsch, senior vice president for development and alumni relations. “The success of the campaign will have a profound impact on the University for generations to come, and donors are stepping forward to show their support and express their own vision for our future."
Alumni of the University gave at one of the highest levels in Penn State’s history. The dollar value of gifts received from Penn Staters was $87.6 million, an increase of 23 percent over the year before. More than 72,000 alumni supported their alma mater, a drop of 4.8 percent from the prior year, but still among the highest of any university in the country. Gift receipts from all sources were strong across the University, increasing by nearly 14 percent overall. The year-end figure of $237.8 million is the second-highest receipts total ever achieved by Penn State.
The University passed several important fundraising milestones in 2012-13, including:
-- The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program reached its goal of $100 million in scholarship endowments for students with financial need. To celebrate that success and underscore the For the Future campaign’s focus on scholarship support, the program has been extended and enhanced. New Trustee Scholarships created through June 30, 2014, will earn an annual 10 percent match in perpetuity, up from the program’s original 5 percent match.
-- The popularity of another matching program, the Faculty Endowment Challenge, also led to its renewal in 2012-13. The challenge offers a 1:2 match for gifts creating Early Career Professorships, and the first pool of University matching funds has helped donors to create 23 endowments for faculty in the first decade of their careers. An additional pool of support has now been made available, offering donors the opportunity to create a total of 40 Early Career Professorships through the program.
-- In November, the University dedicated the new Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, a state-of-the-art, patient-and-family-centered facility that would not exist without more than $65 million in private support.
-- THON raised $12.4 million for pediatric cancer research and patient care at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and it surpassed $100 million in total support raised since 1977, when it first partnered with the Four Diamonds Fund.
-- Last year, the For the Future faculty/staff campaign surpassed its original $43 million goal and aimed toward a new $55 million target. That goal was reached as the 2012-2013 fiscal year came to an end, with $55.2 million in support from Penn State’s employees during the campaign.
The campaign will continue to build upon these results in the months ahead, according to its chair, Peter G. Tombros. “The achievements of our students and faculty depend upon the support of our alumni and friends,” said Tombros, who will present a full report on Penn State’s fundraising success at the Board of Trustees meeting on July 12. “Through For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, we’re asking our supporters to become our partners in achieving its vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America.”