Building on Momentum at Virginia State University

by Laura Cobb, Assistant Vice President, J.F. Smith Group

Virginia State University, located in historic Petersburg, Virginia, has certainly enjoyed the fruits of its labor, successfully closing out a major capital campaign at the end of 2010 and turning its eyes to the future and campaigns to come.  On December 31, 2010, Virginia State successfully closed out its A Dream on The Hill capital campaign, raising over $36.7 million.  Over $9 million of this total was raised during Phase II of the campaign, carried out from July 1, 2010, to December 31, 2010.  Phase II was begun after the hugely successful Phase I of the campaign raised over $27.3 million since July 1, 2006.  The J.F. Smith Group had the pleasure of coming on board with Virginia State with a feasibility study in 2005 and again with Phase II of the capital campaign in the spring of 2010.  JFSG has formed a strong partnership with Virginia State over the past year, assisting with development training, cultivation visits and strategies, and donor identification and verification.

A Dream on The Hill was an ambitious undertaking by Virginia State's Board of Visitors, administration, alumni and friends to promote and sustain academic programs in line with the University's mission.  Virginia State targeted three key areas - students, faculty and the campus itself.  Student initiatives included providing increased financial assistance to offset inflation and tuition increases as well as the establishment of endowed funds to generate interest-based income for additional financial assistance.  Faculty goals included recruiting and retaining top-notch faculty, increasing the allowable time for faculty research, providing state-of-the art equipment, materials and technology, and creating scholarships and stipends for graduate assistant students.  Campus changes realized through the campaign included renovating housing and academic facilities and developing new ones, upgrading the University's website and technology infrastructure, creating SMART classrooms and new computer labs, establishing distance learning equipment, and upgrading the library with electronic databases and journals.

The successful A Dream on The Hill campaign certainly had a positive impact on the Virginia State family, but Virginia State is not stopping there.  The Office of Development is already busy preparing itself for a campaign on the horizon, which will be led by Virginia State's 13^th President, Dr. Keith T. Miller.  Already busy making cultivation calls and visits, Virginia State will be poised to capitalize on this campaign with the same success that it did on the one just completed.  This is an exciting time for Virginia State University!