Annual All-University Campaign to benefit Missouri State

I want to thank those faculty and staff members who contributed last year to the annual Missouri State University Foundation’s All-University Campaign to benefit Missouri State. About 20 percent of the faculty and staff contributed over $200,000 to support student financial aid, their own academic areas, special programs of importance to them, facilities, etc.

On Tuesday, September 9, the 2008 All-University Campaign will have its kickoff event. Ice cream and information on the Campaign will be available from 3-5 p.m. at three locations on campus: Carrington Hall, Strong Hall, and Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

I hope you will participate in this event. In addition, a letter and information packet on the Campaign will be mailed to every employee in the near future.

I ask that you review the material and consider how you can participate best in our Campaign. Our goal is to increase the participation of University employees from 20 percent last year to 30 percent this year. Your investment in Missouri State, no matter how large or how small, is extremely important to our long-term development of Missouri State. The participation level of University employees also sends a powerful signal to our friends off campus as they consider their level of donation to the University. We need to set an especially strong example as we prepare to launch an ambitious comprehensive campaign next spring.

Let me remind you of the following:

• Your gift will always make a difference. From the student who receives a scholarship that makes a college education possible to the academic program that is enhanced so that it can achieve its larger aspirations, your donation enables the University to reach out and lift up its programs and people in ways that simply would not be otherwise possible.
• You have the ability to specify the use of your gift. You can ask that your contribution be used to support student scholarships, a specific academic program, a special project, or a facility. Your donation can be dedicated to that one part of the University that means the most to you emotionally. You can even help the unit in which you work with a gift for the purchase of equipment, travel, supplies, and other needs.
• Your gift is tax-deductible, and you may elect to use payroll deduction to make easy payments monthly.
• Missouri State endorses only two campus-wide fund-raising activities each year: the United Way Campaign to support service agencies in Springfield and the Ozarks; and the All-University Campaign to support Missouri State.

As you know, private giving is a key ingredient to funding the future growth and development of Missouri State University. Given that the state appropriations now account for only about 45 percent of our total educational revenue, and given that we want to keep tuition as affordable as possible for students, we must secure private investment to accomplish what we need and want to accomplish as a University.

Last year, private giving to the Missouri State Foundation set a record with more than $14 million. That means that over the past three years, the Foundation has received an average of $1 million per month, with most of that being donated for student scholarships and academic programs and activities. In fact, many of you have probably benefited from the private giving in some way or another.

So, again, I urge you to invest in the University where you work, in the students you teach, and in the programs you respect and admire. For more information, please visit the All-University Campaign web site. Should you have specific questions about your gift, please contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at ext. 6-4143.

I leave you with this question: If those of us who work here don’t feel strongly enough to invest in Missouri State, how can we expect others to do so? Please help me send the message that the faculty and staff at this University really believe in its mission and purpose; with that message, we will continue to enlist more and more outside supporters for Missouri State University.

Thank you for your consideration.