Spectrum - Volume 20 Issue 33 June 18, 1998 - Faculty, staff get involved in campaign

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Faculty, staff
get involved
in campaign

By Terry McGuire

Spectrum Volume 20 Issue 33 - June 18, 1998

With its days numbered, the Campaign for Virginia Tech is going out in style. The six-year effort, which ends on June 30, has raised $298.1 million. The university community has left its mark on that total, joining alumni and friends in pushing the campaign 19.2 percent over its goal of $250 million. Since the campaign's start in July of 1992, some 1,650 members of the Virginia Tech faculty and staff have contributed $5.7 million in gifts and commitments.
More recently, faculty and staff members have had the opportunity to support the largest and most successful fundraising initiative in Virginia Tech history through the university phase of the campaign, which began on March 16 and will conclude on June 30. To date, several hundred university donors have pledged nearly $72,000 during this time period.
The university campaign offers faculty and staff members an almost unlimited menu when it comes to deciding where they want to designate their gifts. Gifts can be directed virtually anywhere within the university--to a college, a department, a particular program or initiative, or to the university at large. Donors have the option of dividing a gift among several entities.
Faculty and staff members also have the convenience of choice in selecting how they want to make a gift. The university campaign provides the flexibility of making campaign contributions by check, credit card or through payroll deduction. Donors may also make a pledge for the current fiscal year.
Charles Steger, vice president for Development and University Relations, said it's not the amount of the gift, but the making of a gift that matters. "Faculty and staff members make a difference through their participation, not just by the size of their gift," Steger said. "A modest gift can be used to purchase lab supplies or help the libraries acquire a volume or pay for a magazine subscription."
Steger also said the support of the university community--at whatever level--sends a message to others. "It tells alumni and friends that those who have helped make Virginia Tech what it is today have an eye towards its future as well," he said. "And there is still time to contribute to that future."