228,297 Supporters Donate $374M to Ohio State in FY 2013
The Ohio State University today announced that 228,297 alumni and friends donated more than $374 million to Ohio State during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. This represents a gain of 3.5 percent in fundraising when compared to the previous year’s results. Donors moved the ‘But for Ohio State’ $2.5 billion fundraising campaign well past the halfway mark for 2013.
“We are very pleased with our year-end success and the campaign’s momentum,” said Michael Eicher, senior vice president of advancement and president of The Ohio State University Foundation. “Our supporters’ investment in Ohio State is an incredible testament to their belief in the university as a premier institution with world-changing research and innovation. Our ongoing success is fundamentally connected to donor support, and we are immensely grateful for it.”
The ‘But for Ohio State’ campaign supports the academic mission and vision of the university. Fundraising for fiscal year 2013 falls into five priority areas: student scholarships and other support, $57.5 million; investment in faculty, $118.3 million; facilities and renovations, $35.2 million; research, $111 million; and innovation, $35.4 million.
“The tremendous support of our alumni and friends will enable us to move the university forward in unprecedented ways,” said Ohio State Interim President Joseph A. Alutto. “Thanks to the generosity and goodwill of many, Ohio State will take the next important step in our university's tradition of finding solutions to grand challenges.”
Alumni Making an Impact
Fiscal year 2013 also represents a banner year for the Ohio State University Alumni Association and alumni-donor support. The introduction of a universal alumni association membership model saw the number of alumni donors – 32 percent of all donors – rise 8.6 percent from the previous year to a record 70,378. Alumni giving increased 31.54 percent to $79,681,523, another record.
Archie Griffin, president of the Ohio State University Alumni Association, underscored the important connection between students and alumni.
“We probably don’t say thank you to our alumni nearly enough for their important work,” he said. “Through the years, thousands of students have been able to attend Ohio State because their local alumni groups helped make it happen. These groups are making good on their responsibilities as Buckeyes, and I am grateful for their essential work.”
New this year, any gift to an alumni club scholarship, along with gifts to scholarships from other supporters, will count toward Ohio State’s broad-reaching Ohio Scholarship Challenge. With a goal of raising a total of $100 million in general scholarship support, the Ohio Scholarship Challenge creates a full-tuition endowed scholarship in each of Ohio’s 88 counties. Scholarships funded by the challenge are transferrable between majors and portable between campuses, allowing recipients to keep the scholarship regardless of major chosen or campus attended.
Making a Difference – Today, Tomorrow and Beyond
Several gifts from alumni, friends and supporters over the past 12 months represent major investments in Ohio State’s academic mission. This year, 45 donors gave gifts of $1 million or more for a combined total of nearly $125 million. These transformational gifts support a number of efforts, including foreign-language programs, study abroad opportunities and early childhood development initiatives, and provide support for the Wexner Medical Center, The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, Fisher College of Business, engineering, athletics and more. Highlights in 2013 include:
•The Coughlins, a world-class auto racing family and owners of JEGS Automotive Inc., made a $10 million gift to help transform cancer treatment and research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
•Thirty members of the Crane family gave $13.5 million to establish the Jameson Crane Sports Medicine Institute, and fund early-childhood and foreign-language education initiatives.
•Monte Ahuja, an Ohio State alumnus and founder of Transtar Industries in Cleveland, donated $3.5 million to Ohio State to support student success and create the Monte Ahuja Endowed Dean’s Chair.
•Ohio State alumnus and Foundation Board Director Keith Monda and his wife, Linda, made an additional $5 million commitment to their Keith and Linda Monda International Experience Scholarships, which doubles their initial November 2011 commitment.
•Covelli Enterprises owner and CEO Sam Covelli committed $10 million to Ohio State to assist in funding the construction of a multisport arena. The Covelli gift is the single largest cash gift from an individual donor to the department of athletics.
•The Bertram L. and Iris S. Wolstein Foundation committed $4.9 million to Ohio State, with $3.4 million going to Max M. Fisher College of Business and $1.5 million to the department of athletics.
About The Ohio State University
Founded in 1870, The Ohio State University is a world-class public research university and the leading comprehensive teaching and research institution in the state of Ohio. With more than 63,000 students (including 56,000 in Columbus), the Wexner Medical Center, 14 colleges, 80 centers, and 175 majors, the university offers its students tremendous breadth and depth of opportunity in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions.
