IU campaigns take steps toward $5 billion goal

IU President Michael McRobbie announced the conclusion of the Matching the Promise campaign Friday. The campaign, which raised $1.144 billion, exceeded its initial goal of $1 billion, making it the most successful campaign in IU history.

Matching the Promise was the first of four steps toward raising $5 billion during the next 10 years. McRobbie announced the plan near the end of September.

The day after announcing the Matching the Promise results, McRobbie announced the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis IMPACT campaign, which has set a record anticipated goal of $1.25 billion. This campaign is the second step in fundraising.

“This is a bold and ambitious goal for a bold and ambitious campus,” McRobbie said in a press release.

IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre explained that each of the four steps would in turn make up the total sum of the expected amount.

“When IUPUI IMPACT concludes, we will turn right around and announce another Bloomington campaign, and the goal will be somewhere in excess of $1 billion,” MacIntyre said. “When that concludes, we will announce another campaign for IUPUI that will be in excess of $1 billion. So if you take those four campaigns, the sum total of those four will be $5 billion.”

IU will look to reach into the expansive group of 540,000 alumni worldwide with this lofty goal.

With the large expected amount for incoming funds to IU, a logical question is where the money will go.

Donors can choose the way they want to allocate their funds. For example, some might want to put their money toward academic scholarships. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald said donor intent is the largest factor in where the
money goes.

“We allow donors to differentiate by subject area, or we allow them to do it by the geographic home of the student,”
Theobald said.

— Dennis Glade