By John Harvith
Pitt’s Discover a World of Possibilities capital campaign has raised more than $910 million in gifts and pledges to date, surging toward its billion-dollar goal, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg announced at the winter meeting of the University’s Board of Trustees Feb. 24.
In racing past the $910 million mark—and, in the process, surpassing the fundraising goal set for June 30, the end of the current fiscal year—the campaign set yet another record for the most successful fundraising effort in the history of Pitt and of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The Discover a World of Possibilities campaign has increased the number of the University’s endowed funds by 89 percent, from 889 in 1997 to 1,687 to date, creating 309 new endowed scholarships, 28 new endowed fellowships, and 64 new endowed faculty positions in addition to supporting educational and research programs, student-life initiatives, and facilities.
“Obtaining these ongoing types of support is critical toward ensuring the future academic quality and economic well-being of this world-class research university, whose venerable, 219-year history goes back to the time when our founding fathers were busy framing the Constitution,” Nordenberg stated.
The chancellor also pointed out that the campaign’s success has been based on large numbers of major donors giving generously to the University over the course of the campaign.
“Pitt has now received 182 gifts of $1 million or more, and I find it both remarkable and heartening that 34 of these leadership gifts were from donors who had never before contributed financially to the University,” Nordenberg said.
The University’s fundraising success also has depended upon broad support, the chancellor added. To date, 108,826 individuals (including 64,578 alumni) have given to the campaign, among them 59,616 first-time Pitt donors, and their gifts totaling $327.5 million now comprise 36 percent of all campaign contributions, the second-largest source of campaign funding after foundation gifts, which total $332 million, or 36.5 percent of all campaign contributions. The remaining sources are $123 million, or 13.5 percent of all campaign contributions, from corporations, and $127.5 million, or 14 percent of all contributions, from other organizations.
“Thanks to the quality of our institution, the hard work of both dedicated staff members and loyal volunteers, and the generosity of donors, our campaign continues to move forward ahead of schedule,” Nordenberg said.
