What is the history of fundraising at MSU?
For a very long time, MSU’s annual giving hovered around $1 million while most of its peer institutions raised significantly more. MSU launched its first aggressive fundraising campaign in the 1970s to raise funds to build the Wharton Center. The first Campaign for MSU was in the 1980s. The campaign goal of $1.2 billion for the current Campaign for MSU is a major leap forward. By comparison, the goal of MSU’s last campaign was to raise $160 million, against which an impressive $217.8 million was raised. MSU still has nearly $200 million left to raise and most of that is for endowment. At present, over 850 new endowments have been established at MSU since the beginning of this campaign. Reaching the $1 billion mark with this campaign places MSU in the elite group of universitiesand one of only three public universities along with Berkeley and Purdueto reach $1 billion in fundraising without the benefit of having a major medical or research center on the main campus.
