With the event completed, we have now raised more than $100,000 in the five regional campaign events. Thanks to our wonderful committees who helped us in these efforts to move the campaign a little further down the road!

Indianapolis

• Campaign chair – Phil Howard
• Dinner held October 5, 2010 at Jonathan Byrd’s
• 534 invited, 34 attended (6%)
• 8 committee members (6 contributed to the campaign – 75%)
• Gifts and pledges from dinner – $2,450 (6 donors)
• Average dinner gift/pledge – $408

 Columbus

• Campaign co-chairs – Tom and Wendy Feusse
• Dinner held November 4, 2010 at Villa Milano
• 190 invited, 35 attended (18%)
• 5 committee members (4 contributed to the campaign – 80%)
• Gifts and pledges from dinner – $8,319 (6 donors)
• Average dinner gift/pledge – $2773
• Dinner underwritten

 Huntington

• Campaign co-chairs – Brooks Fetters and Jane Schenkel
• Two dinners held February 3 and February 10, 2011 at Habecker Dining Commons
• 1,052 invited, 145 attended (14%)
• 35 committee members (26 contributed to the campaign – 74%)
• Gifts and pledges from dinner – $22,525 (33 donors)
• Average dinner gift/pledge – $683

 Fort Wayne

• Campaign chair – Andrew Hoffman
• Dinner held June 2, 2011 at Hall’s Guesthouse
• 924 invited, 55 attended (6%)
• 12 committee members (6 contributed to the campaign – 50%)
• Gifts and pledges from dinner – $11,065 (8 donors)
• Average dinner gift/pledge – $1,383 (one gift was $6,000)

 Regional Campaign Summary

• 4 dinners raised $44,359
• 2,700 invited; 269 attended (10%)
• 60 total committee members (42 contributed to the campaign – 70%)
• Total gifts and pledges from dinners – $44,359 (53 donors)
• Average dinner gift/pledge (for all dinners) – $837

Campaign events are currently being planned for Adrian, Michigan (Thursday, November 3) and Grand Rapids, Michigan (Monday, November 14).

• Matthew Ruiz, Assistant Professor of Exercise Science
• Blair Dowden, President
• Lance Clark, Associate Professor of DMA Film and Communications
• Rebecca Coffman, Professor of Art
• Stephen Leeper, Assistant Professor Digital Media Arts

Kay Schwob, director of the Enterprise Resource Center, and Jeremy Rufener, advancement officer, briefly reviewed campaign details and asked each retiree to consider joining with us in our effort to reach 100% participation of our faculty, staff, and retirees.  The current amount raised has been $288,198.  60% have participated thus far.

• Why do I need to complete a Declaration of Intent form for The Campaign for Huntington University when I have been a regular faithful donor to the University?

The University appreciates the faithfulness of every donor and trusts that each verbal commitment will be completed by donors. However, buildings cannot be built and scholarships cannot be granted with only a verbal promise, as good as it may be. In order for the University to know how it is progressing, and in order to make plans for projects to be completed, we must have written confirmation of each donor’s intentions.

• Why is it important to continue giving to the University Fund during the capital campaign?

The University Fund comprises approximately 13 percent of the University’s operating budget. Annual unrestricted gifts to the University during the capital campaign will enable us to continue providing financial assistance to nearly 90% of our students in the form of institutional scholarships and grants. If you already contribute to the University Fund, those gifts will automatically count toward the Campaign. The University’s hope is that everyone will continue to give to the University Fund at the level they currently give, and then consider a capital gift over and above their unrestricted giving.

• What happens to my gift if the project I choose has been over funded?

In the event a preferred project is over funded, additional gifts will be used where needed most.

• What is included in the Merillat Complex/Athletics/Recreation project?

An addition will be added to the front of the building that will include a new entryway and expanded exercise and weight training space. New bleachers will be added to the current gymnasium and the swimming pool space will become a new hardwood gym floor. Other improvements will include classroom space, fitness lab, baseball facility improvements, multi-use all-weather turf field, outdoor track renovations and lighting.

• What is included in the Digital and Visual Arts project?

This project will include a 3,000 square foot building (studio arts center) for 2D arts. This will be located near the Art Annex. In addition, the top two floors of Becker Hall will be renovated for the digital media arts program. The renovation will include an elevator and new restrooms.

• I normally give to an endowed scholarship. Will that count as part of the campaign?

All giving to endowed scholarships will count as part of the campaign. In addition, giving to general (unrestricted) endowment and general scholarship (unnamed) endowment will count as campaign gifts. New named scholarships can be established with a gift of $20,000, and a faculty chair can be established with a $1,000,000 gift.

• How does one go about supporting a named faculty chair?

An endowed chair is a naming opportunity in the endowment portion of the campaign. The dollar amount to fully fund/name a chair is $1M. At this time, since we do not have an endowed chair, faculty could support an existing endowed scholarship or the HU general endowment fund. If a chair were to be established by a major donor, anyone could make additional gifts to the endowed chair fund to grow its permanent value.

• When are the building projects expected to be completed?

Building projects will be completed as funds become available. The studio arts center will be completed in fall 2009. New bleachers, the track/field project, and Becker Hall will be started in spring/fall of 2010. Other Merillat Complex projects have been identified by priority as funds become available.

• Do naming opportunities represent the cost of the project named?

There is no direct correlation between naming opportunities/named spaces and the costs being incurred for those spaces. Naming opportunities represent a non-scientific allocation of funds needed for the projects as a whole to identifiable space that is appropriate for naming – i.e. we will have new restrooms in a number of the facilities in the campaign, but you will not note naming opportunities for those spaces as we didn’t deem those spaces appropriate for naming, but, funds are incurred for work in those spaces.

Ed reviewed several specifics related to the community campaign to date:

• Combined Community Major Donor and Merillat Complex Committees this summer. Ed Vessels and Ryan Warner are co-chairing. There are 12 committee members. Six (6) of these have met with donor prospects.
• 21 campaign presentations have been made. Of these, we have received six firm commitments (signed DOI’s) totaling $61,000. The rest are still pending a decision.
• Recent positive events
       o A local bank established a scholarship (to be funded over the next 5 years)
       o A local industry has indicated an interest in potential gifts in kind
       o A local company has asked to meet with HU representatives again to get further information
       o A local individual has made a 5-figure addition to a scholarship they established during the last campaign
• Several high potential ($5,000+) contacts have been assigned and are still yet to be made before the end of the year. Many have still yet to be assigned.
• 531 people from Huntington County have made gifts, pledges, or deferred gifts to the campaign totaling $3,971,407 (note: some of these are counted in other categories, i.e. trustees, faculty, staff). Many of these gifts come from regular phonathon and University Fund support.
•  The $3,971,407 raised in Huntington County is 47% of the $8,390,665 gifts, pledges, and deferred gifts raised to date.

An updated priority list was provided to each committee member asking them to focus on these high potential contacts over the next 30 days.

The next meeting of the Community Campaign Committee will be held on Wednesday, October 28, at 12:00 p.m. in the Habecker Dining Commons.

Andrew Martin:

Peter Owens: