Johns Hopkins recently completed the second-best
fund-raising year in its history and now lies squarely on
track to achieve the ambitious $2 billion goal for its
Knowledge for the
World campaign.
In July 2000, trustees of the university and the
health system authorized the institutions to accept gifts
to help build and upgrade facilities on all campuses, to
strengthen endowment for student aid and faculty support,
and to advance research, academic and clinical
initiatives.
To date, Johns Hopkins institutions have raised more
than $1.8 billion with two years left in the campaign.
In fiscal year 2005, Johns Hopkins raised $395.3
million, just shy of the $419 million raised in fiscal year
2001, the first year of the Knowledge for the World
campaign.
The Center for Talented Youth, Sheridan Libraries,
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Krieger
School of Arts and Sciences, School of Nursing and School
of Professional Studies in Business and Education all had
their best fund-raising years ever, with Nursing nearly
doubling its previous best.
Charlie Phlegar, senior associate vice president for
development and alumni relations, said that the success of
the campaign has been driven by a strong economy, the
compelling nature of the funding priorities and "terrific
leadership on the volunteer side and from university
administration."
"And the large gifts that we have received have
enabled us to jump-start some projects, and those begin to
encourage others to give large contributions that might
have the same impact," Phlegar said. "This year we didn't
have quite the depth of large gifts as in some previous
years, but we were able to continue our momentum with a
greater number of smaller gifts."
Campaign contributions have already helped jump-start
and pay for many funding priorities, Phlegar said,
including the renovation of the Peabody campus, cancer
programs at the School of Medicine and scholarship programs
at the School of Public Health.
Phlegar said that while the campaign is ahead of
schedule overall, specific funding areas such as capital
projects at the Homewood and JHMI campuses, undergraduate
scholarship support and endowed professorships are not
fully funded and remain a critical priority.
"We're redoubling our efforts and zeroing in on these
areas from here on in," Phlegar said. "Although the numbers
are within our sights, they remain uphill battles. We
always have a huge need for undergraduate scholarship
support."
The past fiscal year, which ended June 30, was Johns
Hopkins' sixth consecutive year above $300 million in cash
receipts. Hopkins joins a list of only three other
institutions — Harvard, Stanford and Cornell —
that can claim this achievement.
The campaign, which will conclude in 2007, will
benefit all the university's academic divisions and several
centers and institutes.
Johns Hopkins Medicine (consisting of the School of
Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System)
has set a goal of $1 billion, the Bloomberg School of
Public Health seeks $500 million, and goals for the Krieger
School of Arts and Sciences and for the Whiting School of
Engineering are, respectively, $250 million and $150
million.
The balance of the funds sought will benefit the
School of Nursing, Peabody Institute, SAIS, SPSBE, Sheridan
Libraries, Berman Bioethics Institute, Institute for Policy
Studies, Center for Talented Youth and Johns Hopkins
University Press.
In June, Johns Hopkins Medicine surpassed its $1
billion goal. In FY 2005, JHM raised $241.7 million in
campaign commitments, representing the second-best year
ever for philanthropy for Johns Hopkins Medicine.
[Correction: After this story appeared in print,
The Gazette was notified that Johns Hopkins Medicine
had actually had its best fund-raising year ever,
raising $254.7 million in campaign commitments in FY2005.]
Additionally, JHM received $172.6 million in total cash
receipts. However, several important priorities remain for
Medicine, including fund raising for large capital
projects. Among them are two major clinical buildings, as
well as several research and educational buildings.
Other units and divisions that have already surpassed
their goals are the Center for Talented Youth, SAIS and the
Institute for Policy Studies.
The name chosen for the fund-raising effort has its
roots in the origins of Johns Hopkins. In February 1876,
the university's first president, Daniel Coit Gilman,
formally took office and laid out plans for a radically
different educational institution. Gilman wanted his
university to do more than just teach, more than just pass
along old knowledge to the next generation. He added a new
mission: discovery, the creation of knowledge and the use
of that knowledge for the good of humanity. Johns Hopkins
— the first American research university — thus
adopted for this campaign a simple but powerful restatement
of Gilman's words into "Knowledge for the World."
The previous fund-raising campaign, the Johns Hopkins
Initiative, was launched publicly in October 1994 with a
goal of $900 million. It ended June 30, 2000, with an
actual total of $1.52 billion in commitments — a
Johns Hopkins record — from more than 100,000 alumni,
friends, corporations, foundations and organizations.
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