With Frank Doble's (A '11) posthumous donation of $136 million earlier this month, Tufts' Beyond Boundaries capital campaign surged ahead of pace and is now set to reach its goal on time.
The funds drive, which is seeking to raise $1.2 billion for university improvements and supplements to its endowment, has already raised $875 million and reeled in 73 percent of its goal.
The campaign has raised $212 million in fiscal year 2008. Beyond Boundaries' targeted end date is June 30, 2011.
"The campaign is doing exceptionally well [and is] exceeding our expectations to date," said Brian Lee, the vice president of University Advancement. "We're delighted with the response from our alumni and our reporters in the campaign who have been extraordinarily generous in supporting our campaign's priority."
Many universities launch capital campaigns to encourage alumni to give money. Tufts started Beyond Boundaries in July 2002, and the campaign entered its public phase in November 2006.
Lee hailed the Doble gift, in which a trust fund the alumnus had set up before he died was unbolted and half the were funds given to Tufts. Lee called that gift emblematic of Beyond Boundaries' goal.
"There's an important dynamic at play: that one generation of Tufts students enables the next," Lee said.
Christopher Simoneau, the director of Central Development Programs, emphasized that the goal of the campaign is to enhance the university. He said that although a majority of the campaign funds are earmarked for investment in the endowment, the main purpose of the campaign is to facilitate university improvements.
"This is not a chase after dollars but a chase to fill the priorities of the deans," Simoneau said.
Currently, 57 percent of the money donated, or $491 million, has been put toward endowment, while 37 percent, $320 million, has been designated for current use, such as the operating budget, and six percent, $55 million, has been put toward improving Tufts' campuses.
Beyond Boundaries has raised more money to date than Tufts' two previous capital campaigns combined. Tufts Tomorrow lasted from 1994 to 2002 and raised $609 million; the New Campaign for Tufts lasted from 1986 to 1994 and raised $251 million.
Lee said the more important achievement of the campaign to date has been its ability to attract new donors - from alumni to parents, friends, foundations and corporations. Currently, the campaign has received money from almost 82,000 donors.
"This campaign's success will be measured not only in raising $1.2 billion but to the extent that it expands and diversifies the base of support," Lee said.
Among the separate schools, the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine has already surpassed its goal of $100 million, while the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service has raised 96.6 percent of its $60-million goal. Not far behind, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy has reached 94.6 percent of its targeted $50 million.
Simoneau reiterated that giving to the campaign should not stop after a school has reached its goal, noting that the Cummings School is still seeking donations for faculty support.
"The fundraisers are still working to make sure all the buckets are filled," Simoneau said.
The School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences continue to lag behind pace in their collective fundraising goal of $225 million, having only reached 36.5 percent of that measure.
Lee said that the School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences have achieved great things under Medical School Dean Michael Rosenblatt, such as the renovation of the Arthur M. Sackler Center for Health Communications and the recent $15 million contribution from the Jaharis Family Foundation in September 2007. Lee said that he is optimistic that the campaign will reach its goal for the two schools.
"We are having a significant impact, and we're proud of that," Lee said. "We remain confident that we will, in the end, secure the resources necessary to institute the strategic plan."
Provost Jamshed Bharucha met with each of the faculty deans from Tufts' different departments prior to the 2002 launch of the campaign to compile goals that each dean would like to accomplish. The group put together goals amounting to $3 billion and presented the goals to the Office of University Advancement, Lee said. The office then whittled that priority list to equal $1.2 billion based on what the office estimated it could raise.
"It was [the deans'] job to refine and prioritize, and they did a great job," Lee said.
