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 As many of you know, fund-raising has assumed a very important role in the well-being of the University, given drastic budget cuts over the last several years. We are a state-assisted (rather than a state-supported) institution, and we must raise funds from private sources to achieve all that we want to do. Raising money has now become a key criterion in the selection process of most higher education chief executives, as it was for me. In fact, in the CSU, each president is required to raise from non-state sources an amount equal to 10 percent of the state-provided campus budget. This translates to about $7.5 million for CSU, Chico that we must raise from external sources. Our campus is very fortunate to have a dedicated and extremely knowledgeable development staff to oversee this endeavor. Last year we raised $9.2 million in current and future gifts. This exceeded our previous high by over $1.5 million, thanks largely to the gift of the baseball stadium by Steve and Kathy Nettleton. The number of alumni donors and total dollar amount of alumni gifts have increased for the third year in a row. Athletics has met its first-year goal of $50,000 for scholarships, the amount needed for CSU, Chico to become a part of the CCAA, the new athletic league of which we are a member. Merit scholarships continue to be my number one priority, and we are discussing the likelihood of a major campaign for scholarship endowments. We commonly speak of our fundraising constituency as alumni, parents, donors, and friends of the University. However, faculty and staff make up a very important part of this constituency as well. A good percentage (27 percent) of our employees presently donates to the University. This is high for the CSU and very competitive for a national sample, which includes private schools. But while many of our faculty and staff give generously to a number of different programs that need financial support, many simply have never been asked. As we develop a more comprehensive fundraising strategy, we will be asking all constituents to help us meet our goals to make this a premier university. Our future is bright as our constituents realize what an outstanding university CSU, Chico is, and I hope you all will help us maintain the margin of excellence.
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