Christmas came early this year for LSU as record-breaking donations dropped into the stockings of fundraising foundations across the campus, providing renovated learning halls and top-notch software programs.
Donor support reached an all-time high of $193 million by the end of the 2014-2015 fiscal year, surpassing the previous record by almost $100 million, according to an LSU Media Relations news release.
LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard said the lump sum was acquired through direct support to the university and significant gifts to its independent fundraising entities: the LSU Foundation, the Tiger Athletic Foundation and the LSU Alumni Association.
LSU President F. King Alexander said he hopes the funds received this past year will be attractive to potential students.
“We want to keep that going and make sure that our fundraising momentum is maintained,” Alexander said.
The LSU Foundation alone experienced its most successful fundraising year, hitting the $74 million mark. It received half of a $40 million estate gift split with TAF, which was one of its largest donations ever and will benefit the College of Engineering.
The LSU Foundation’s results from this fiscal year are nearly triple its 2012 total, which was $25,457,008. By 2013, the foundation raised $68,659,121.
Sara Crow, senior director of Communications and Donor Relations for the LSU Foundation, said in addition to the planned gift from an anonymous donor, the LSU Foundation received generous support for other projects.
She said $55 million in donations were raised for the College of Engineering’s Patrick F. Taylor Hall renovation, and the sum will be matched by the state of Louisiana.
“They’re going to add a chemical engineering annex,” Crow said. “That certainly has been a pretty significant fundraising project and very successful.”
The third major gift given to the LSU Foundation was the $12 million commitment Roger Ogden made to the recently renamed Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College. The donation was made in honor of Ogden’s son and late father who share the same name.
Crow said most students are unaware how much their daily lives are impacted by donors’ generosity. Donors support scholarships, study abroad programs, LSU faculty recruitment and retainment and innovative programs and initiatives, among other projects.
“Quietly, every single day, donors are reaching into their own pockets and making gifts to support students they’ve never met,” Crow said.
Donors also gave a total of $83.8 million directly to LSU, which purchased “premier geoscience and engineering software gifted to various locations across campus,” according to the release.
The LSU Alumni Association obtained $3 million in funds. Its membership consequently increased to 15,000 alumni — a 7 percent higher membership.
Donations to the Association support scholarships, stipends to retain professors, faculty awards to incentivize achievement and an independent operations at no cost to the institution, according to its website.
TAF exceeded its previous fundraising efforts with the approximately $32.3 million it raised over the past year.
Aside from the planned gift divided with the LSU Foundation, TAF’s philanthropic programs provide for the TAF Capital Programs Fund, the LSU Football Building Fund, the LSU Gymnastics Practice Facility and the Tiger Athletic Nutrition Center, among many others, according to the organization’s website.
Crow said the enthusiasm for philanthropic support, as evidenced by the record breaker, reflects LSU’s strong culture of Tiger spirit prevalent in both current students and alumni.
“A lot of the unique parts of [students’] LSU experience are made possible, in whole or in part, because an alum or friend of LSU felt passionate enough about the University to give,” Crow said.