SDSU Fundraising Exceeds $100M for Second Consecutive Year
More than 10,000 new donors pledged support in 2016-17.
For the second consecutive year, San Diego State University raised more than $100 million in philanthropic giving to support students, faculty and the continued excellence of an SDSU education.“We are honored by the support of so many loyal Aztecs who care deeply about SDSU.”
The university raised $105.66 million in fiscal 2016-17 to conclude The Campaign for SDSU with a total of $815.17 million, exceeding the campaign’s fundraising goal of $750 million.
More than 74,000 alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends contributed to the 10-year campaign, 53,192 of whom were first-time donors.
“We are honored by the support of so many loyal Aztecs who care deeply about SDSU,” said Mary Ruth Carleton, vice president for University Relations and Development. “To have reached and then exceeded our campaign goal is a significant milestone in the university’s 120-year history.”
10,000 new donors
The campaign goal was reached in October, when San Diego Padres executive chair Ron Fowler and his wife, Alexis, made a $25 million matching gift to name the Fowler College of Business. Subsequent gifts to the college from Thomas and Evelyn Page, Richard and Susan Seiler and Richard and Sharon Fogg have begun to answer the Fowlers’ challenge to match their $25 million.Between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2017, about 10,500 new donors contributed to the campaign and more than 32,000 new gifts were received. Scholarship support increased from $140 million to $190 million, and SDSU’s endowment rose from $205 million to $245 million, an important measure of future growth and stability.
New planned gifts and estate gifts also rose sharply in 2016-17 to comprise more than 30 percent of the annual total. This type of support is expected to help double the university’s endowment over the next decade.
“SDSU has always been a special community of people who aspire and succeed,” said SDSU President Sally Roush. “We continue to reach higher and seek support to complete the Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex, increase named faculty chairs in our colleges and build our endowment for future generations.”
2016-17 highlights
Other philanthropic highlights of fiscal 2017 include:- The opening of the Clay Gateway, a formal campus entrance named for SDSU alumni and long-time supporters Nikki and Ben Clay
- The renovation of a campus landmark, Scripps Cottage, with support from Bill Scripps and SDSU’s Associated Students
- The growth of regional councils, which unite alumni and friends in Aztec-concentrated areas around the country in activities that support the university and SDSU students
- The expansion of Aztec Proud, a program operated by the Office of Alumni Engagement to promote student philanthropy
- Increased support for the Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences (EIS) Complex, an 85,000-square-foot space for collaborative, interdisciplinary research and entrepreneurship
- The Great Give, a 24-hour online event that took place on Oct. 25 and raised nearly $140,000 from more than 700 individual gifts
- SDSU’s recognition by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education for the sustained excellence of its fundraising program.
