Vol. 38, No. 18

2-4-2005
By: Randy Gammage

Campus Campaign 2005 kicks off

Now through April 30, faculty and staff will be afforded the opportunity to express their passion for Ohio State by contributing to Campus Campaign, Ohio State’s annual fundraising drive.

“I Believe in Ohio State” continues to be the rallying cry and gifts can be pledged to more than 9,000 different development funds on campus.

At the heart of Campus Campaign is the network of volunteers in every university department and on all Ohio State campuses. A new group of more than 1,000 volunteers is recruited each year to distribute pledge cards to their co-workers, promote departmental goals and hold events or talks to encourage giving by those in their units. Individual colleges/schools/offices are encouraged to plan kickoff events for their campaigns in lieu of a campuswide event this year. The campaign will culminate with a celebration of the efforts of its volunteers in late May.

The benefits of Campus Campaign dollars are felt throughout the university and beyond. Thanks to the perseverance of Ohio State Newark employees pledging to the Newark Staff/Faculty Scholarship Fund, established in the late 1980s, the fund has finally reached the endowment level of $25,000. Once it is officially recognized as an endowed fund and begins accruing interest, the goal is for interest to provide at least a $1,000 annual scholarship for a member of a faculty or staff’s family, said Kyle Morgan, coordinator of academic advising at OSU Newark.

Morgan has directed campaign efforts at the Newark campus off and on since 1985, the year the campaign was established. While giving back to your employer could be a hard sell, she said the diversity of services and funds at Ohio State offers a multitude of opportunities to give where your heart leads.

“You could think of almost any passion under the sun and you could find a fund at OSU to further that cause,” Morgan said.

Her passion for the university and its educational mission has prompted her to pledge each year. “To give a little bit of my salary to provide a scholarship to help a student pay for school makes me feel great,” she said.

Pledges by Reprographics employees have risen to $29,000 and resulted in a Family Scholarship Fund reaching the endowed level, said Becky Triplett, manager of the Cost Per Copy program. The fund will allow employees and their family members to take advantage of training, education and professional development opportunities.

“I believe we’ve been successful at Reprographics because of the commitment and inspiration of our leadership,” she said. “People want to participate because they see how genuinely passionate our leaders are and understand how important it is to give back to the university.”

Triplett said Campus Campaign is a great morale booster. Each spring she helps organize monthly fundraisers such as barbecues, chili cook-offs and potlucks to remind staffers that the campaign is underway.

“It’s a fun time because it brings us all together to work toward a common goal,” she said.

The universitywide campaign reached a milestone during the 2004 campaign.

“Reaching the $100 million mark last fall in faculty and staff giving since the Campus Campaign’s inception has served as a springboard for this year’s special initiative — a goal of $1.2 million in gifts and multi-year pledges in support of the renovation of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library,” said Linda Johnson, associate director of annual giving programs in the Office of Development. In addition to their usual gift, faculty and staff will be asked to consider making a gift to a project of universitywide importance, the Thompson Library Renovation Fund (#302895).

Golden Jackson, associate professor of consumer and textile sciences, who is serving as campaign co-chair with Ron Shaull, director of print and Web content at the Ohio State Medical Center, said more than $85,000 was contributed to the library renovation fund by faculty and staff during last year’s campaign. The goal is to dramatically exceed that amount this year.

“We’re hoping that the rest of the university is as excited about the library renovation as the Campus Campaign Council is,” Jackson said. “The library is so central to the university and the Academic Plan.”

New this year
A number of features have been added to this year’s campaign. For the first time, coordinators in individual units will receive an updated list of donors every two weeks and will be able to directly thank the donors from their area.

“Every gift is appreciated and we want to recognize the generosity of our faculty and staff,” Johnson said, adding that no dollar amounts or fund designations will be released.

Development will be testing an online payroll deduction option later in the year, starting in April. Faculty and staff will be able to go online and set up payroll deductions through a secure page at www.campuscampaign.osu.edu. “We will communicate that feature through e-mail when it goes live,” said Tina Thome, administrative assistant in the Office of Development.

In addition, by late February more information will be available through the campaign Web site, including a larger listing of priority funds for various units, news bites about what different areas are doing and miscellaneous campaign information.

“It will still be only a small sampling of the more than 9,000 available funds, but it will list many college, school and office priority funds, most requested funds and some ‘odds and ends,’” Thome said.

For more information about this year’s campaign and special project, visit the Web at www.campuscampaign.osu.edu or contact the Campus Campaign office at ccampaign@osu.edu or 292-3065.

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