Hamline’s Take the Lead campaign passed its $110 million fundraising goal in early October, and the grand total is still growing at $120 million.
The campaign, started by President Fayneese Miller in 2015, will end on Dec. 31, 2023: stretching from Miller’s first year to her final month in office. When Miller first announced the campaign at the President’s Circle Dinner in 2019, the fundraising team had already completed its “silent phase” by gathering over $50 million.
Miller announced the campaign’s success to a ballroom filled with trustees, donors, alumni and other dedicated members of the Hamline community at an Oct. 12 donor recognition event rebranded as the President’s Celebration Dinner.
Heidi Fisher, the Vice President of Institutional Advancement, has been closely involved with the final years of the campaign.
“We are honored to have so many invest deeply in Hamline University,” Fisher said. “The financial goal is important, yet we began the campaign to ensure Hamline students will have high impact experiences, increased financial support and improved facilities.”
As for what aspects of improvement will be focused on, Fisher broke down the intended goals for the campaign.
“In a comprehensive campaign we work to obtain support for Hamline’s highest, most strategic and impactful priorities. The focus areas include; financial aid, academic initiatives, campus
improvements, support for innovation, student support, and athletic program,” Fisher wrote in an email.
Fisher explained that while the campaign hopes to fund these certain areas, how donations are used is up to the donor.
“Because we follow donor intent, what dollars will be available and to what areas is determined by those who invest in Hamline,” Fisher said.
The Take the Lead campaign — named in reference to Hamline’s status as Minnesota’s first university — takes place on a historic scale in the university’s past and future, but its impact may be hard for today’s undergraduates to see.
“Some gifts become part of Hamline’s endowment, some gifts are pledges or estate gifts that Hamline will realize in the future and some gifts come directly into the operating budget in the year in which they’re given,” Hamline’s Vice President for Finance & Administration, Brent Gustafson, said.
As Hamline students this year have directly felt the effects of a budget deficit through the sharp reduction of work study hours, fundraising announcements struck some as both hopeful and frustrating.
“Some gifts are for here and now and others may be given to support the endowment fund and/or through multi-year pledges of support,” Fisher said. “Examples of current impact include paid internships, student scholarships, improved facilities, and distinguished faculty awards.”
Though the campaign is already $10 million past its goal, President Miller hopes to see it continue to reach new heights.
“There’s still 80 days left in this campaign. And we want to see how far we can take it,” Miller said at the dinner on Oct. 12. “This is significant because it means that our students in Hamline University can have the money they need in order to get through.”
While Take the Lead has sought funding for a wide range of causes, in her closing speech at the President’s Celebration Dinner, Miller repeatedly emphasized the goal to make Hamline welcoming and affordable for students who need financial support.
“During this timeframe, nearly 70 annual scholarships have been started,” Miller said. “That’s amazing. When you think about where we were and where we are now, that’s the beauty of a campaign.”
