Campaign Illinois

What is Campaign Illinois?
----------------------------
The UI has embarked on a major fund-raising campaign to
raise $1 billion in private gifts and grants for both
campuses by the end of 1998. The major goal of the campaign
is to significantly increase the university's endowment,
which will guarantee financial resources in perpetuity and
ensure the campus will continue to attract and retain
outstanding faculty and students. The theme of Campaign
Illinois is "Building on Tradition - Shaping Tomorrow."

Campaign Illinois is a massive undertaking that is seeking
commitments from alumni, friends, corporations, foundations,
and faculty and staff members of the UI. The campaign is the
second universitywide fund-raising effort. The last capital
campaign ended Dec. 31, 1984, and raised $137 million for
both campuses.

Why did the UI decide to mount  a major campaign?
-------------------------------------------------------
In 1954, state funding accounted for 72 percent of the
university's annual operating budget; private giving totaled
$1.5 million. In the 1994-1995 operating budget the picture
was very different: State funding accounted for less than 34
percent of the university's annual budget, while private
giving totaled $150 million. As the figures show, private
resources have grown in importance at the UI.

How did Illinois arrive at the $1 billion goal?
-----------------------------------------------
In 1991, the UI conducted a feasibility study to establish a
universitywide campaign goal. More than 110 major donors
were asked if they believed there was support among alumni
and friends for such an effort and whether they would
provide leadership gifts to help the university meet its
fund-raising objectives. The response was an overwhelming
show of support.

The university set a $1 billion fund-raising goal based on
past giving and projected trends and the results of the
feasibility study. The size and loyalty of the UI Alumni
Association, the largest in the United States, was also a
factor in setting the goal. There are more than 400,000
alumni and of these, 124,000 are members of the alumni
association.

Of the $1 billion total, $700 million is earmarked for the
Urbana-Champaign campus and $300 million, for the Chicago
campus. To date, slightly more than $400  million has been
raised, of which about $184 million is earmarked for
endowment.

What is the money for
------------------------
The campaign emphasizes increasing and establishing
endowments that will support, in perpetuity, the UI's people
and programs. By increasing its endowment, the UI
strengthens it overall financial base and produces usable
income while leaving the principal intact. More than 75
percent of the Campaign Illinois goal is designated in
support of endowed faculty positions, academic programs and
student financial assistance.

The campaign's goals can be divided into five categories.
The campus hopes to establish 100 endowed chairs and
professorships. The campaign also intends to increase
endowments for a variety of academic programs and purposes.
Student financial assistance at both the undergraduate and
graduate level is the third category. The fourth category is
devoted to new facilities. Laboratory renovations and
equipment acquisitions are combined in the final category.

Each college has set its own priorities and seeks to meet
these goals by raising money from alumni, friends,
corporations and foundations.

Will gift support replace state support as the percentage of
state
dollars decreases in the UI budget?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Private support gives the university flexibility and the
ability to grow, but private dollars are not a substitute or
a replacement for state appropriations. Traditionally, the
state has embraced the obligation to provide the "first
dollar" in the form of basic support for the university's
operating budget. Subsequent funding from federal and other
sources provides the second level of specific program
support. Private contributions supply the "last dollars,"
augmenting, in a voluntary way, the basic funding from other
sources.

The normal operating budget leaves little maneuvering room
to accommodate new ideas and initiatives. Most funds
available from legislative appropriations and student fees
are committed far in advance to support existing educational
programs, while the greatest portion of federal funding is
directed toward specific research. Gift dollars provide
"extra" resources for needs that can't be met with state
dollars, such as professorships, scholarships, special
research projects and equipment.

What is the campaign's schedule?
-----------------------------------
Campaign Illinois was formally announced on Oct. 14, 1994,
at the UI Foundation's 59th Annual Meeting. As with most
major fund-raising efforts, however, the formal launch of
the campaign had been preceded by three years of targeted
fund-raising to test both the feasibility of the campaign
and the commitment of Illinois' alumni and closest friends.
The public phase of the campaign will last four years and
end in 1998.

What kinds of gifts will be made to the campaign?
----------------------------------------------------
The manner by which a donor chooses to make a gift is a
matter of personal preference and situation. While the most
direct method is cash, the UI Foundation offers a variety of
giving options. Other options include gifts of appreciated
securities, life insurance policies, real estate, art works,
assignment of royalties, and gifts of personal property, as
well as deferred gifts such as bequests and life income
trusts.

Who is leading the campaign?
--------------------------------
There is a 13-member Campaign Illinois Steering Committee
comprising members of the UI Foundation. The committee is
headed by three national campaign chairs: Richard G. Cline,
'57, chairman and CEO of NICOR Inc.; George M.C. Fisher,
'62, chairman, president and CEO of Eastman Kodak Co.; and
B. Kenneth West, '55, chairman of Harris Bankcorp Inc.
Thomas A. Murphy, '38, retired chairman of General Motors
Corp., is serving as honorary chair.

How does Illinois' campaign goal compare with those of other
universities?
------------------------------------------------------------
-
Only one other public university in the United States, the
University of Michigan, has ever attempted a fund-raising
campaign of $1 billion. Among other peer institutions, both
public and private, Harvard is seeking $2.1 billion; Yale,
$1.5 billion; Cornell, $1.25 billion; and Columbia, $1.15
billion. The University of Pennsylvania is nearing its $1.3
billion goal. The Campaign Illinois goal should be viewed in
the context of the UI's size and scope, which is comparable
to these other institutions.