NC State University fundraising efforts hit record breaking levels for fiscal year 2012-2013 with gifts and pledges totalling $198.2 million – a 78% increase over the previous year. Cash in the door jumped 27 percent to $127.6 million. Fundraising for the endowment was off the charts, raising nearly $130 million. And the annual giving program surpassed 2011-12 by 7 percent, collecting nearly $2 million.
Donations to the College of Natural Resources grew 263% over the previous year to $9 million. The total is due in part to a soon-to-be-announced $7 million gift from a donor who isn’t even an alumnus, just a committed wildlife enthusiast who believes in the work the college is doing.
Donor support is critical as the university faces an expected 5 percent cut in state funding this year just as it begins to implement an ambitious strategic plan that calls for investments in faculty and infrastructure to improve student success, confront society’s grand challenges and drive economic development.