More than 13,700 donors commit nearly $49.9 million to OHIO in fiscal year 2020
Ohio University alumni, friends, faculty, staff, students and partners donated $49,888,642 through The Ohio University Foundation in fiscal year 2020 in support of the University’s mission, vision and future, surpassing OHIO’s $30 million fundraising goal. Thanks to the Bobcat family’s generosity, the University secured the highest level of private financial support in eight years and the highest level ever in a year outside of a major capital campaign.
More than 13,710 donors, including nearly 8,600 graduates, made gifts to The Ohio University Foundation this past fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2020.
The level of private giving in fiscal year 2020 reflects a strong commitment across the University to increase alumni and corporate engagement. It is one of OHIO’s strategic initiatives and rooted in the belief that, together, the University, its graduates and its external partners can support one another in ways that are meaningful and mutually beneficial.
“It is because of the generosity of our collective Ohio University community that Ohio’s first university continues to be among the nation’s finest,” said President M. Duane Nellis. “Every gift made – regardless of size, scope or form – advances the mission of our University, the futures of our students, and the local, national and global impact of this historic institution. On behalf of every member of our University community, I extend a heartfelt thanks to the thousands of donors who invest in our collective success and who share our deep belief in the power of an OHIO education to change lives and uplift communities.”
The fiscal year started out exceptionally strong with another historic commitment from Violet Patton, BSED ’38, who, in August 2019, increased her already significant philanthropic commitment to The Ohio University Foundation by $22 million. The additional funding will support capital projects for the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education and the new Violet L. Patton Center for Arts and Education. It follows substantial gifts Dr. Patton made to the University in 2010 when she committed $13.3 million to establish the Violet L. Patton Center for Arts and Education and $28 million to honor her parents with the naming of the Patton College.
One of the highlights of OHIO’s 2019 Black Alumni Reunion, held in September, was a celebration of the more than $324,000 the Ebony Bobcat Network raised, in partnership with The OHIO Match, to endow its first Urban Scholarship Fund.
The University also received significant gifts-in-kind in fiscal year 2020 that will have long-lasting impacts on student success, research, and the Southeast Ohio region.
This past spring, the University announced a one-of-a-kind gift from Crane Hollow Inc., a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation that owns and conserves the nearly 2,000-acre Crane Hollow Nature Preserve in Hocking County, Ohio. Crane Hollow Inc. donated a unique biological collection gathered on and about the nature preserve – including more than 120,000 natural specimens and approximately 11,000 different species, many yet to be classified by scientists – to the Ohio University Museum Complex. The collection is valued conservatively at $2 million, and the gift includes a $50,000 collection support fund and database documenting field notes, scientific illustrations and references, and other collection-related items. It will be housed at The Ridges in Lin Hall 211, which is being renovated with donor-contributed funds, and will serve as a resource for students around the world, scientists, researchers and educational programming in local schools.
Another noteworthy fiscal year 2020 gift-in-kind resulted from the work of alumna Dawna Roederer, BS ’09, who advocated on behalf of the OHIO students following in her footsteps and successfully helped secure classroom access to technology used in the oil and gas industry. Houston-based geoscience IT company ROGII Inc. provided OHIO’s Department of Geological Sciences licenses for its StarSteer software, a gift-in-kind valued at $310,500. Access to the software will provide OHIO students technical skills that will give them a competitive edge in the job market.
“I continue to be OHIO proud and deeply grateful for both the unwavering and creative ways our donors, including our passionate graduates, lend their time, talent and treasure in support of every facet of this University,” said Nico Karagosian, vice president of University Advancement and president and CEO of The Ohio University Foundation. “Whether it be for continuous needs like student scholarships or unexpected needs, their generosity has a profound impact on the life of Ohio University every day.”
An unexpected highlight of the fiscal year surfaced in March when the University announced that it would be suspending in-person instruction and moving to an online learning environment to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Within a day of that announcement, the Dean of Students Office received the first of hundreds of requests for assistance from students who were experiencing financial hardships as a result of COVID-19 and necessary COVID-19 response measures. Eight days later, the COVID-19 Ohio University Student Emergency Fund was up and running and supported by OHIO’s Bobcats Take Care campaign. The campaign ran through June 30 and resulted in more than 1,000 alumni and friends contributing over $245,000 to address the immediate needs of students on OHIO’s Athens and regional campuses.
Fiscal year 2020 also saw the University’s Office of Annual Giving launch Ohio University Crowdfunding (bobcatsgive.ohio.edu), a project-based fundraising platform that allows OHIO students, faculty and staff to raise funds for a specific need. In the past year, the platform has hosted eight fundraising campaigns. Approximately 645 donors committed more than $123,000 to those campaigns, supporting everything from the Marching 110 and a new student scholarship to athletic teams on both the Athens and Lancaster campuses.
As the University embarks on fiscal year 2021, it is already focusing its fundraising efforts on areas of immediate need. On June 19, the Ohio University Board of Trustees approved a new Current-Use Scholarship Program through which the University will provide $1 in matching funds from its unrestricted financial aid budget for every $1 in donor gifts and pledge payments to accounts that meet established program criteria. OHIO has pledged up to $10 million to support this program, which runs through June 30, 2021, and will provide immediate financial assistance to undergraduate students throughout the University.
“In this time of unprecedented global challenges, philanthropic support is more critical than ever to ensure Ohio University is poised to fulfill its essential mission,” said Perry Sook, BSC ’80, chair of The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees. “Together, we have demonstrated the resiliency of the Bobcat spirit and affirmed our commitment to this great institution, and to the generations of Bobcats to come.”
Gifts to OHIO can be made at www.ohio.edu/give, and checks may be made payable to The Ohio University Foundation and mailed to the foundation at P.O. Box 869, Athens, OH 45701. Questions about making a gift can be directed to The Ohio University Foundation at 800-592-3863 or giving@ohio.edu.