Prairie View A&M University raised over $32 million during its first capital campaign with the support of the alumni association and several corporations and foundations.
Originated in 2002, the capital campaign was designed to raise $30 million for the university.
By creating a system of private donations from state and national communities, the campaign has created new funding for special programs and new opportunities for present and future students of Prairie View. The funds raised from the campaign are allocated for scholarship funding, student research laboratory equipment, and technology.
The campaign’s theme, “Extend the View: Shape Tomorrow Today,” was the overall purpose of the campaign.
Nelson Bowman III, director of development and cabinet member of the campaign, said, “Extending the view means putting things in place today, in order to create a better tomorrow for the future generations.”
The original purpose of creating the campaign was to raise funds, so that the student body could grow from 7,800 to 15,000 within a 10-year span.
The project began with gifts and donations from the faculty and staff. These contributions were important, because the faculty and staff served as the foundation for support of the university. By interacting with the student body on a daily basis, staff and faculty members are likely to be the most aware of wants and needs of the students.
Throughout the course of the entire project, the faculty and staff gave $672,000 in gifts and donations, with the average gift size being around $340. Surprisingly, over one third of the entire faculty and staff contributed to the campaign’s cause.
By donating over $6.5 million in proceeds to the project, the university’s alumni association and its members showed their support in this growing cause. Contributing over 25 percent of contributions to the project, the alumni association was the leading supporter of private contributors for the entire campaign. By sending such a strong message, the alumni association’s contributions helped the campaign exceed its original goal by nine percent.
Although the campaign ended in the latter part of 2008, it was originally scheduled to end in 2007. As November 2007 came to a close, the campaign had already generated $23 million. Although this was a major achievement, the cabinet led by co-chair persons and alumni Don K. Clark and Opal Johnson-Smith, elected to extend the campaign an extra year, so that the goal could be reached.
PVAMU’s participation in the Texas Office of Civil Rights settlement resulted in the foundation’s commitment to offer a dollar-for-dollar matching agreement, which motivated donors to contribute more money and ultimately added to the campaign’s success. Consequently, the project raised an additional $8 million.
The endowment funds that were created by the campaign were arguably the most beneficial aspect of the entire cause. Created with particular purposes and with the desire of the donors at heart, endowments are a long-term constant financial source, upon which the university can depend for future scholarship money.
During the course of the capital campaign, the university created over 77 endowments with a minimal investment of $5,000 per endowment. Starting in 2004, each endowment created was named and designated for a specific cause. The endowments totaled over $56 million in scholarship money for PVAMU students.
Bowman said, “The significance of endowments compared to cash scholarships, is the fact that endowments generate interest over a period of time, making them a long-term investment. Cash scholarships are short-term, because they are gone once the money runs out.”
The capital campaign also managed to raise $6 million in merit-based student scholarships, creating between 75-100 scholarships ranging from $25,000-$40,000 each. In addition, $5 million in athletic scholarships were created for all 18 athletic teams on campus.
Willie F. Trotty, vice president of research and development, explained, “This campaign was very significant to the university in terms of public image. Prior to conducting the campaign we did a study of Prairie View’s public image, and we found that most people in Houston didn’t even consider us as part of their community. It felt like we were a university without a home.” Trotty added, “By inviting people to our campus, we were able to network and build stronger relationships with outside communities, and we showed them a new side of PVAMU.”