NC State’s Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign concluded its first year with a donation total of $224.8 million, putting the campaign total at $1.12 billion of its $1.6 billion goal. This record-breaking year has encouraged developers to keep the campaign front and center, in order to attain more philanthropic dollars for scholarships, fellowships, facility renovations and academic opportunities.
The Think and Do Campaign is a five-year university fundraiser established to raise and allocate money toward the endowment, facility renovation and operative support.
Anya Reid, interim associate vice chancellor for development at NC State, discussed the campaign’s initial and continued purpose.
“We are a very good university, but to be a great university, we really need private support or philanthropic dollars,” Reid said. “We have so much potential on this campus, but to really achieve that potential, we need to invest in our people. And our people is our faculty and our students and our staff.”
Reid also stressed the importance of donations to the campaign, both large and small.
“The $45 million commitment from the Golden Leaf Foundation to help push forward the Plant Sciences Initiative, which is an incredible interdisciplinary partnership with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer services, that was a phenomenal gift,” Reid said. “There have been many gifts of that nature.”
Student Body President Jackie Gonzalez, a fourth-year studying political science, commented on the groundbreaking record, and why she believes the campaign is important to the student body.
“The Think and Do Campaign is particularly astounding because of the many records they’ve broken this year in regards to donations,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “I think it’s very important for students to recognize that every university has and appreciates donors because what we pay as students doesn’t always fulfill the needs the University has. If you are able to give, even in small quantities, it is always going to a good cause: to make NC State the best it can be.”
Gonzalez thinks that students should be aware of such progress due to the campaign’s immediate effect on students’ academic and residential lives, which Reid further emphasizes.
“The reason for launching the campaign was to help us achieve the goals that had been set out in the strategic plan for NC State,” Reid said. “That includes having the resources to offer scholarships and fellowships for students, to be able to provide students with what we call ‘high impact experiences,’ including things like study abroad, or all of the sorts of programs offered through NC State Arts, the athletic programs, cultural programs, all of those things.”
Auburn Morgan, a first-year studying life sciences, commented on the opportunities that she believes arise from the philanthropic dollars of the campaign.
“I think having that money for student opportunities and for students to use is a necessity because the more opportunities you have the higher you’re going to go in society,” Morgan said. “You want to have nice facilities, and you want to have opportunities for students, so the more money you have to do those things the more success that comes out of your school.”
Reid further stressed the importance that current students can have on the Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign for NC State.
“We had over 100 percent increase in student giving last year, which contributed to that great success,” Reid said. “You give up your lattes for a week and you can help move the needle.”
