The University of Illinois System has officially launched its largest, and most ambitious, comprehensive fundraising initiative that aims to raise $3.1 billion over the next five years to support students, faculty and academic and research programs and facilities.
This initiative is built on individual campaigns for each of the System’s universities in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign that were officially launched during campus-based kickoff events in October.
“Each university has a distinctive campaign theme. Altogether these campaigns will be inspiring and impactful with cases for support focused on each institution’s strategic priorities,” said James H. Moore, president and CEO of the University of Illinois Foundation, the official fundraising organization for the System and its universities. “We will celebrate and acknowledge the ways our universities cultivate knowledge, make innovative research discoveries and provide life-changing opportunities for students.”
The campaigns stretch through 2022 and as of Oct. 31, $1.5 billion has been raised toward the total goal of $3.1 billion.
“With Illinois,” the campaign for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, celebrated its launch the weekend of Oct. 13. Thousands of alumni, friends and students attended a live celebration at the State Farm Center, where Chancellor Robert Jones announced the goal to raise $2.25 billion by 2022. The University of Illinois at Chicago held a launch rally Saturday, Oct. 28, at the UIC Pavilion. Chancellor Michael Amiridis announced the “Ignite” campaign goal of $750 million to more than 700 alumni, students and friends. “Reaching Stellar,” the campaign for the University of Illinois at Springfield, was launched Oct. 10 in the Sangamon Auditorium. Chancellor Susan Koch announced the Springfield campus’s goal of $40 million.
Moore said the campaigns will be successful because the campaign priorities are linked to strategic areas of strength and opportunity that will resonate with alumni and friends.
“The generosity of our donors provides the critical margin of difference that drives excellence, supporting student scholarships, world-class faculty, pioneering research and state-of-the-art facilities that have made the U. of I. System a globally recognized leader in education, discovery and innovation,” said Tim Killeen, president of the University of Illinois System.
The overall size of these campaigns ranks among the top tier in higher education fundraising. Only eight public universities, including the System, currently have goals greater than $3 billion. The campaigns are the first for the System since Brilliant Futures, which topped its $2.25 billion goal when it ended in 2011.
For more information about the campaigns and their fundraising priorities, visit the following web pages: With Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ignite, University of Illinois at Chicago and Reaching Stellar, University of Illinois at Springfield.
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