A slowing economy may force Texas A&M to revise the unofficial $1 billion fundraising target of the “One Spirit, One Vision” capital campaign, said A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen.
“When we were planning this about a year ago, the economy was booming, but with the economy softening now, if you try to do public events, you won’t be successful,” Bowen said. “You want to set a fundraising target that you can exceed.”
The theme and executive committee of the campaign was unveiled Oct. 4 at the 125th anniversary gala, but the campaign is still in its “quiet” phase, Bowen said, with the University soliciting from a handful of major donors. In about two years, once several large gifts have been collected, the University will kickoff the public phase of the campaign, announcing an official fundraising goal and targeting a wider audience of smaller donors.
Rose Ann McFadden, spokesperson for the Texas A&M Foundation who is coordinating the campaign, said that during this phase of the effort, the organization is tailoring funding proposals for particular donors.
“From their past giving, we usually have an idea of the type of programs an individual might be interested in supporting, such as scholarships or faculty chairs in a particular department,” McFadden said. “We’ll draft a proposal, and Dr. Bowen will visit with that person and begin a discussion about donating.”
The foundation has liaisons attached to each college who are familiar with their funding needs and long-term plans, McFadden said, and the University will try to match the goals outlined in Vision 2020 with donors interested in supporting them.
The campaign, which will last six or seven years, will be a key component of A&M’s plan to rank among the nation’s top 10 public universities by 2020.
“We need a good basis of public funding from the state, but private donors can build that margin of excellence,” Bowen said.
A principal goal of the University’s long-term plans to improve its academic standing is attracting more high-quality faculty, Bowen said. Private donors have helped by endowing faculty chairs, which award select professors with compensation beyond their state salary.
At the Oct. 4 convocation celebrating A&M’s 125th anniversary, Bowen said the University’s looming budget crunch and inadequate funding from the state posed the greatest threat to A&M’s progress.
“One Spirit, One Vision” is the first of what will be two capital campaigns to be mounted by 2020 with a goal of raising A&M’s private endowment assets from $700,000 to $3 billion, McFadden said. The last capital campaign, “Capturing the Spirit,” concluded in 1996, set a goal of $500 million and raised $635 million.
The theme for this campaign embodies A&M’s long-term aspirations as outlined in Vision 2020, McFadden said.
“This campaign is all about helping A&M attain top-ten status without losing its distinctiveness and the spirit that makes us different from every other university,” McFadden said.
The A&M Foundation is coordinating its efforts with the 12th Man Foundation, McFadden said, which is conducting a $50 million fund raising campaign for the Athletics Department to avoid soliciting the same donors.