On Dec. 31, 2007, the campaign will come to its official close, and all involved with the monumental fundraising effort believe UM will not only achieve its ambitious goal, but will go beyond it.
As it stands now, UM has raised about $90 million in pledges and donations received, said Laura Brehm, president of the UM Foundation.
One of the most pleasantly surprising aspects of the campaign is that of the 24,000 donors to date, more than half of the them are not connected to UM in a personal way - they are not alumni, and some don't even live in Montana, Brehm said.
“In this way, I wasn't fully surprised for the depth and generosity,” she said. “It's been very rewarding and it's been a great joy to learn that people really do care about this university and this state. That more than half of the donors are not alumni is a huge statement in what higher education means to people.
“It's clear that people really get it; that higher education is critical if we are to have an enlightened society and economic vitality.”
Although Montana has one of the of highest rates for producing high school graduates - more than 92 percent of Montanans hold a high school diploma - it ranks among the lowest for producing college graduates, Brehm said.
Statistics received from state offices that track these numbers show that only one in four Montanans have a college degree, and only 38 percent of Montanans who go to college earn a degree in six years.
Affordability is now widely recognized as a critical barrier to higher education, Brehm said. It is a message that's been heard loud and clear across the country, which is one of the reasons non-alumni are contributing to UM.
Retired businessman Charlie Oliver is a relative newcomer to Montana, but he threw himself into the campaign effort because he is impressed by UM.
Over the past decade he's witnessed how the university has successfully tackled ambitious projects - such as the Washington-Grizzly Stadium and constructing state-of-the-art facilities like the Gallagher Building and the Skaggs Building. Because of its “can-do attitude” he believes UM accomplishes more than other institutions he has been affiliated with, including places in California where universities are much larger than UM and receive far more state and private support.
While working for global engineering companies around the world, Oliver said he learned to appreciate the countries that are making progress, countries that offer citizens quality of life.
What he learned during those work years is this: Countries that are thriving significantly invest in their public higher education system.
“I saw that around the world, and I came away from those experiences with the fundamental belief that higher education is critical for success,” he said. “Economic success for Montana is critical, and support for higher education is critical for that success.”
When he moved to the Bitterroot Valley, he started his own research about UM, and he liked what he learned.
“This university has taken a lot less and has done a lot more and achieved more tangible results that public institutions four times its size,” Oliver said.
What hooked Oliver was not the athletic programs, which he is a huge fan of, but the notion that UM has one of the strongest honors colleges in the nation; that its pharmacy program ranks among the nation's top 10; that the journalism school and the forestry school are powerhouse programs in their own right.
Oliver now dedicates much of his free time promoting UM and helping it achieve greater success.
“When I go out and talk about the university, to people like me and my wife, to people who have elected to move the area, I try to point out the direct benefit of supporting the university,” he said, “and then I tell them to let their heart guide them.”
Oliver's pitch has helped boost the campaign coffers, and part of that pitch is outlining a unique aspect of this fundraising push. Much of the funding in this campaign will significantly increase student scholarships and fellowships, thereby breaking down access barriers.
This campaign is about putting in place endowments that will help future generations of UM students and ensuring that funding will be in place to attract the best and the brightest students and faculty for the long haul, said Dan Pletscher, a UM professor in the College of Forestry and Conservation.
Donors have been particularly generous in helping to endow forestry chairs, he said, and one of the reasons is that they truly get the notion their support will have a profound effect.
“The endowments are something that will be here as long as there is a University of Montana,” Pletscher said, “and that is a pretty far-reaching legacy to leave for many, many future generations.”
Once the $100 million is raised, 38 percent of the funds will be earmarked for renovations and new buildings; 22 percent will go to student scholarships and fellowships; 22 percent will fund academic programs; and 18 percent will pay for faculty programs, including professorships and chairs.
When the campaign began in 2002, the goal of $100 million was daunting, said Deborah McWhinney, UM's national campaign director.
Now, with the campaign's end in sight, her emotions have shifted dramatically.
“I'm humbled by the generosity of the donors and by the spirit in which the money has been given,” she said. “It has been really amazing to me to learn that so many people have the passion for and the belief in the University of Montana.
“It's very reaffirming for what we have all worked so hard for. It's been an honor to head up this campaign.”
The largest donation to UM is a $6 million gift from Dennis and Phyllis Washington, Brehm said. Their largesse, which is two separate $3 million donations, kick-started the major fundraising and gave the campaign momentum.
Reaching the finish line, she said, will depend on the donations of everyday Montanans and UM alumni.
So far, the campaign has prompted 7,600 new donors to make their first-ever donations to UM, and majority of those are UM alumni.
“At the end of the day, I think Montanans take pride in this campus and they know it offers its students a global perspective and place to improve their lives,” Brehm said.
Every nickel and dime is critical to the campaign's success, and while the forecast looks like a potential smooth ride to its end in December, Brehm said with urgency: “It's time now for everyone to come into the fold and give.”
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