Elon University has launched the public phase of the largest fundraising campaign in the school’s history. The Board of Trustees voted Oct. 10 to set a goal of raising $100 million by 2011 through Ever Elon: The Campaign for the Future of Our University.
Trustees began planning for Ever Elon in 2005 and began counting gifts to the campaign during the leadership phase which began in 2006. As of Oct. 8, Ever Elon had raised nearly $59.1 million in gifts and pledges, setting the stage for the public launch at a campus kick-off scheduled for Oct. 11.
“Through the Ever Elon Campaign, we are writing the next chapter in this great university’s history,” said Allen Gant, chairman of the board of trustees and president of Glen Raven, Inc. “Our sharp focus is on building the university’s endowment, to secure our financial future and position Elon to fulfill its destiny as a national leader in higher education.”
Ever Elon is designed to add $70 million in gifts and pledges to the university’s endowment, which was valued at $86.5 million as of May 31, 2008. Elon’s endowment is a fraction of the size of most of its peer institutions, roughly one-sixth of Furman University’s endowment and one-twelfth of Wake Forest University’s endowment. Elon will direct campaign endowment gifts to the following priorities, providing a permanent source of funding through earnings on endowment investments:
Endowment Goals
- $30 million for student access and opportunity
Need-based and merit-based scholarships, athletics scholarships, School of Law scholarships - $12 million for excellent teaching and scholarship
Professorships, faculty development, the Center for Advancement of Teaching and Learning - $10 million for support of engaged learning programs
Undergraduate research, international study, internships, service learning, leadership development, Elon Academy - $5 million for campus preservation
Building and grounds maintenance and renewal - $7 million for emerging opportunities
Special university initiatives and new program development - $6 million for unrestricted and general undesignated uses
“These endowment goals are critical to securing Elon’s advances and continued development,” said Leo M. Lambert, Elon University president. “We must provide expanded scholarship assistance to keep Elon affordable for talented students from a variety of backgrounds. And we must expand our investments in the faculty and in academic programs that have propelled Elon into a position of national leadership in engaged teaching and learning.”
Ever Elon also includes goals to raise $20 million in annual giving over the course of the campaign, along with $10 million to fund construction projects, including completion of the Academic Village, expansion of field house facilities for athletics and construction of a new multi-faith center for campus religious organizations.
The $100 million campaign total goal is more than twice the amount raised in The Campaign for the Elon Vision, which concluded in 2001 and raised $46.7 million.
“Ever Elon is an exciting and challenging opportunity for our community,” said trustee and campaign chair Mark T. Mahaffey, chairman of The Mahaffey Company in St. Petersburg, Fla. “In our leadership phase, we have found many generous friends of Elon who understand how far Elon has come and who know the critical importance of increasing our financial resources. We know that Elon cannot thrive by relying only on the income from student tuition. We must provide greater support through philanthropy.”
To date, Ever Elon has received 14 individual gifts and pledges valued at more than $1 million, with the largest gift in Elon University history from 1956 alumnus Furman C. Moseley, who honored his wife Susan Reed Moseley with a $5 million contribution that has endowed scholarships for deserving young women. While the campaign has passed the halfway mark toward reaching its goal, Mahaffey said there is much hard work to be done over the next three years.
“We are grateful for the leadership gifts that have brought us to this point,” Mahaffey said. “Now we are asking thousands of Elon alumni, parents, faculty and staff, students and friends to invest in the future of this special university. Every gift will be important to Elon’s future.”
The Ever Elon Campaign Leadership Committee chaired by Mahaffey includes the following members:
Vice President for University Advancement
Nan P. Perkins
James B. Piatt Jr. (Beginning Nov. 1, 2008)
Campaign Director:
Charles E. Davis III, assistant vice president for University Advancement
Vice-Chairs:
Thomas E. Chandler, Burlington, N.C.
Michele S. Hazel ‘78, Broad Run, Va.
Frank R. Lyon ’71, New Canaan, Conn.
Members:
John Deford, Owings Mills, Md.
Patricia S. Deford, Owings Mills, Md.
Edward W. Doherty, Saddle River, N.J.
Joan M. Doherty, Saddle River, N.J.
Allen E. Gant Jr., Burlington, N.C.
Maurice N. Jennings Jr. ‘87, Greensboro, N.C.
Leo M. Lambert, Elon University president
Anne E. Powell, Burlington, N.C.
The Ever Elon Campaign launch includes an Oct. 11 Community Meeting hosted by the Board of Trustees. The university’s Board of Visitors, National Alumni Executive Board, Parents Council, Young Alumni Council and advisory boards for the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and School of Communications will hear an outline of the campaign goals and pass a resolution of support for the campaign. The board members will then have a picnic lunch with students, attend academic discovery sessions led by faculty members and wrap up the day with a formal kick-off dinner.
Regional kick-off events for Ever Elon will also be held, with the first two scheduled for Boston on Nov. 12 and Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19.
A special campaign Web site at www.EverElon.org includes more than 90 video interviews with alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and friends, along with an opportunity for visitors to the site to tell their own favorite Elon stories. Members of the community may make gifts to the campaign through the Web site or by contacting a member of the University Advancement staff.
