Last Updated on October 5, 2022 1:52 pm
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University has marked its best fundraising year in more than a decade. For the fiscal year ending June 30, the university raised more than $36 million, including $31 million in cash gifts — the largest cash fundraising year in university history.
More than 10,000 donors, corporations and foundations contributed to areas across the university, including academic programs, professorships, college access initiatives, arts programming and athletics.
“These investments will change lives in the App State Community — as well as in our region and state — for years and generations to come,” said App State Chancellor Sheri Everts.
“These gifts have lasting impact for our students, faculty and staff and the many communities that benefit from the innovative teaching, leading-edge research and life-changing service that take place at App State,” Everts said.
Endowment funds doubled since 2014
App State’s endowment also grew to $150 million, more than doubling its value since Chancellor Everts, the university’s eighth leader, arrived in 2014. Endowment funds are designed to support the teaching, research and public service missions of educational institutions well into the future, and are an important measure of the economic health of a college or university.
Each year, the majority of the income earned from the university’s endowment is added to the principal for growth, while some is spent in a designated area. In this respect, an endowment is a perpetual gift.
“These critical funds allow the university to provide generationally equitable benefits for prospective and current students, and help the university continue to fulfill its mission of increasing access to education,” said Everts.
A record-breaking year
According to Jane Barghothi, App State’s vice chancellor of university advancement, the Appalachian Fund, College of Fine and Applied Arts, Reich College of Education, University Libraries, and An Appalachian Summer Festival had record fundraising years.
Many areas reported their best fundraising years since at least 2014, said Barghothi, including:
- The Murray Family ACCESS Scholarship Program, which supports low-income North Carolina students who earn admission to App State so they have the opportunity to graduate debt-free.
- An Appalachian Summer Festival, App State’s acclaimed annual celebration of music, dance, theater, film and visual arts.
- The Appalachian Fund, the university’s unrestricted fund that supports areas of greatest need. This fund combines gifts from thousands of donors to support more than 70 areas.
- College of Fine and Applied Arts, a dynamic and innovative group of seven academic departments that brings together a variety of perspectives, experiences and real-world education to provide opportunities for the success of more than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
- Reich College of Education, one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, which enrolls more than 2,000 students in its bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degree programs and graduates about 500 teachers a year.
- University Libraries, which includes Belk Library and Information Commons and the Nicholas Erneston Music Library, offers quiet study spaces, the Digital Media Studio, the Makerspace, digital devices to check out and special collections.
- The Yosef Club, which provides scholarships for App State student-athletes and also covers additional expenses that enhance and provide opportunities and world-class experiences for student-athletes.
The top gifts received in fiscal year 2022 include:
- $2 million to establish the Spangler Distinguished Professorship of Early Child Literacy, the first named professorship in App State’s Reich College of Education.
- $1.35 million to support facilities for App State Athletics as well as academic resources for the Walker College of Business.
- $1 million for University Libraries, including the creation of Belk Library’s 2,000-square-foot Makerspace, which features a workshop area, multiple work tables, 3D printers, laser cutters, crafting supplies, laminating machines, a comb binder and more for students to use free of charge.
- $1 million for An Appalachian Summer Festival, to support artistic excellence, accessibility and audience engagement.
- $333,333 to create the La-Z-Boy Distinguished Endowed Professorship in the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
This year, the university’s annual iBackAPP giving celebration also broke university records — raising nearly $1.3 million in two days.
