Speech Details Plans to Expand Fund Raising

While stressing the importance of stabilizing the University's financial situation -- from avoiding potential budget cuts to improving faculty salaries -- the chancellor revealed that the "quiet phase" of the Carolina First Campaign is coming to an end.

The campaign is a seven-year University effort, begun in July 1999, to gain private donations that will triple the $499 million allocated to UNC by the $3.1 billion state bond referendum.

Moeser said the amount of money raised during the initial private phase of the campaign will be announced on Oct. 12, University Day.

"Last year, I made a pledge to the people of North Carolina that we would triple the impact of the bond issue on this campus with private fund raising," Moeser said. "We intend to keep that pledge."

"This campaign will put us at the very forefront of public universities seeking private support. It will make us more competitive in recruiting the best minds -- students, faculty and staff."

Matt Kupec, vice chancellor for university advancement, would not comment on the exact amount the first phase of the campaign had accumulated but confirmed that more than $1 billion in private contributions already have been raised.

"We've been two years into a quiet phase," Kupec said. "So on October 12 (when the public phase is launched), we'll have a detailed plan of what we're going to accomplish."

Moeser said a successful campaign would enhance UNC's academic vision. He estimated that the money raised will support 200 new endowed professorships as well as 1,000 new scholarships and fellowships.

"Those numbers help demonstrate how this campaign will help meet our academic goals," Moeser said. "And indeed, this effort will determine whether or not we reach our ultimate vision."

Kupec said the first two years of the campaign involved extensive networking -- contacting past and potential donors -- and mobilizing fund-raising tactics.

The Office of Development reported for the fiscal year 2001 that private donors contributed $157 million in gifts and private grants to the University. This amount counts toward the more than $1 billion already garnered.

The University now receives 8 percent of its annual revenue from private endowments. 2001 was the second-highest fund-raising year for UNC, and for the fifth consecutive year, the University raised more than $100 million.

The public phase of the campaign will pick up where the first phase left off, Kupec said, and likely will gain momentum in the coming years.

"We have been extremely pleased," he said. "It has been an incredible couple of years here."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.