Have You Given To FSU?

Fayetteville State University was just named a Tom Joyner School of the Month. During the month of February, Fayetteville State will raise funds and collect donations from students, supporters, and alumni through the Tom Joyner Foundation. This foundation's purpose is to help African-American students pursue and continue their educations at HBCUs.

"This is our month now, February 2010, and our goal is to raise $250,000," says Arthur Affleck, Vice Chancellor of Institutional Advancement at Fayetteville State University. The Division of Institutional Advancement, located in the Alumni House, is accountable for all the fundraising that the university takes part in. As FSU is recognized by the Tom Joyner Foundation, the importance of supporting and donating to a university can be truly understood. According to diverseeducation.com, alumni donations to HBCUs nationally dropped by six percent in 2007. However, overall charitable donations to HBCUs rose by 12 percent. Alumni are not the only avenues a university has for raising money, but universities care deeply about how inspired their alumni feel to give. In June 2009, Fayetteville State became one of the first HBCUs to use videos to encourage younger alumni and supporters of FSU to give. In one of the videos, Chancellor James A. Anderson stated that "It's not the size of the contribution that matters. It's the fact that we do it as a family." FSU still has some work ahead if it wants to reach students. "I don't think anyone really emphasizes on giving to the university," said Courtney Black, a freshman and Health Care Administration major. But while many students come into contact with very few conversations regarding the university's efforts on raising money, people like Affleck and his colleagues work diligently to find more innovative and effective ways to raise money for FSU.

They include:
úBeing the Tom Joyner School of the Month. "We have already raised $150,000 towards this goal and Mr. Tom Joyner will be our special guest at the Chancellor's CIAA lunch on Friday, February 26th in Charlotte. All funds will be used to support student scholarships at FSU," said Affleck.
úGathering community volunteers for an Annual Fund Committee that will help secure support from more of the Fayetteville community.
úA phone-a-thon for March. FSU students and volunteers will call alumni and others who have not given this year.
úEnhancing FSU's technology including the FSU website to better manage the databases and communicate with all constituents. FSU is also trying to make better use of social media like Facebook and Twitter to reach and maintain contact with younger alumni.
úFSU plans to hire a marketing firm to help develop a comprehensive marketing/branding program for the entire university. "A stronger FSU brand will lead to increased contributions," said the Vice Chancellor.

With all of these efforts in the making, it soon might be more difficult to find a student who has not heard the importance of financially supporting the university. "This is vitally important, because if we can help students to develop the habit of giving they are more likely to give when they graduate," said Affleck. The Vice Chancellor also said his office is working with the Student Government Association to support their fundraising effort. "We want students to be aware that as our support from the state of North Carolina decreases, we must raise more private sector funds to support our programs, faculty and students. They should be a part of this effort because they will benefit directly as more money is raised."

Dexter Days, a senior at FSU, says that if as an alumnus he makes a donation to the institution, he would want to know what the money is being used for. Many other students also want to know where the money goes. "Most of the money donated from private sources goes to support FSU student scholarships and, to a lesser extent, academic programs and initiatives. Since over 90% of our students need some form of financial aid, the need is often greater than our resources," said Affleck. The Vice Chancellor says the good news is the University is doing better now than it has in recent years and FSU plans to do even better going forward.