Capital campaign gifts far ahead of schedule

The University's five-year, $1 billion capital campaign, which hits its halfway point in September, is already 64 percent complete, according to Vice President for Development Rick Nahm. When administrators realized that the campaign's original $800 million goal was easily attainable early on, they increased it to one billion dollars, but donors have still surpassed expectations. "It looks like we are close to six months ahead of schedule," Nahm said. But Nahm warned that he expects a slowing period in the next month, as gift drives often start fast, with interested donors giving early. Fundraising tactics therefore must, he said, target individual donors, to show why their gifts are important to the University. "The strategies are continual," Nahm said. "We are seeing as many people as possible and helping them to become excited about Penn." Carole Karsch, director of leadership gifts agreed, saying the University is now targeting smaller donations. "We are extending our outreach to some of the lower rated but very important donors," she said. Nahm said the nation's current recession has not clamped down significantly on gift totals. The economic downturn, while having an effect on fundraising, has not hindered it significantly. "The recession probably made [the fundraising] tougher," he said. Despite the success in fundraising, Nahm and Karsch stressed the importance of not becoming confident before the goal has been reached. With this comes a continuing search for both new donors and second gifts from original donors. "The key strategy is not to get complacent and discouraged," Nahm said. Administrators said that specific projects, such as the proposed Revlon Campus Center & and the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology are of ten particularly attractive to potential donors. While the campaign is not even half over, administrators said preparations are already being made for future fundraising efforts. The Medical Center will be one target, Nahm said, of future efforts. "The Medical Center will be one of our top priorities [for fundraising campaigning]," Nahm said. Individual campaign goals, such as endowed faculty chairs and financial aid are exceeding expectations as well, according to John Gould, executive director in the Office of the President. "Many [fundraisers] reach their dollar goal, but not [individual goals]," Gould said. "It's really going superbly, beyond our expectations."

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