Nationwide, 36 institutions set capital campaign goals above $1 billion

Princeton was among the 24 colleges and universities that responded to a recent survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education about progress in their capital campaigns. Princeton made more progress toward its goal during the second quarter of 2010 than any other institution except the University of Nebraska.

During this year’s second quarter, Princeton raised 7 percent of the overall Aspire campaign goal of $1.75 billion, and the University of Nebraska raised 8 percent of its $1.2 billion goal. As of Oct. 15, the University’s five-year Aspire capital campaign, which is set to run through 2012, had raised $1.26 billion, or 72 percent of its total goal.

In absolute numbers, the University of Texas at Austin raised the most in the second quarter, bringing in $134.5 million, or 4.5 percent of its overall $3 billion goal. The university’s campaign is 40 percent complete and set to end in August 2014.

Of the 36 institutions, 13 have higher campaign goals than Princeton. Stanford has the highest goal of $4.3 billion, followed by Columbia and Cornell, which both aim to raise $4 billion. Columbia and Cornell have met 91 percent and 67 percent of their goals, respectively, and Stanford has surpassed its goal by 4 percent. All three institutions’ campaigns began in 2006 and are set to end Dec. 31, 2011.

William Hardt ’63, assistant vice president of development for Annual Giving, said in an e-mail that the University keeps track of other institutions’ campaigns “at least to the extent of understanding how our progress is similar or different.”

“It is pretty common for the fundraising staffs of Princeton and other universities to discuss with each other various aspects of strategy and experience,” he added.

Annual Giving aims to contribute $250 million to the overall Aspire campaign. Last year it raised $48.6 million, garnering funds from 60.8 percent of undergraduate alumni. Despite the economic climate, this marked the third-highest total Annual Giving had raised since it was established in 1940.

Hardt explained that though there are regular annual changes in the campaign, such as focusing on the classes holding major reunions, the overall campaign strategy remains the same.

He added that he does not think the economic climate will be a major consideration.

“The economy and financial markets have stabilized somewhat from the 2008-09 period but have not yet returned to earlier levels,” he said. “The expectation is that conditions will be challenging, but ones that donors have become more accustomed to and are able to deal with.”