When Dr. Frank G. Pogue Jr. arrived at Louisiana’s Grambling State University as interim president a year ago, he quickly made an unexpected and unpleasant discovery. The school’s primary funding source—the state—was steadily reeling in the cash line and cutting taxpayer support for higher education, not just at Grambling but all over the state.
Today, faced with state allocation reductions of more than 20 percent, with more cuts on the horizon, the veteran educator is hoping to stem his school’s downward revenue spiral by beefing up his fundraising operations and launching Grambling’s first organized capital campaign. He is not alone. From Louisiana to West Virginia to North Carolina—and many states in between—a growing number of historically Black colleges and universities are coming off the sidelines and finally getting into the major fundraising game. In the face of a cash crunch, the colleges are rushing to launch serious capital and planned giving campaigns.
“There is a difference between the art of appreciation and giving back,” says Pogue, echoing the sentiments of other HBCU presidents. He says HBCU alumni and supporters “have no tradition of giving back.” It is a reality HBCU officials “will have to deal with,” he says.
Elsewhere, West Virginia State University is set to launch a five-year, $12.5 million capital campaign, the school’s first since its founding in 1891. Fort Valley State University in Georgia is exploring a planned giving campaign. North Carolina Central University, one of several public HBCUs in the Tar Heel State, recently hired a new development chief with orders to kick the school’s fundraising efforts into gear.
Meanwhile, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) has partnered with The Dream Company, an Alabama-based life insurance provider, to promote the “Insuring The Dream” life insurance plan. Launched in February, the program uses the Internet to sell easy-to-purchase group life term insurance policies in the $10,000 to $100,000 range, with death benefits going to HBCUs designated by the policyholder. Sixteen schools have signed up, including Stillman College in Alabama, Central State University in Ohio and Virginia State University. NAFEO, the organization representing the presidents and chancellors of the nation’s 100-plus HBCUs, has posted sign-up information for “Insuring The Dream” on its website.
The emergence of these schools on the major capital campaign landscape has been hastened by several years of declining state and private support. A still-languishing economy, mounting national debt and Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives have most analysts predicting cuts to federal higher education aid in the near future.
The new attention comes after decades of HBCUs largely ignoring capital campaigns. The fundraising strategy, however, has proved highly effective for large nonminority institutions, as well as for several prestigious, private HBCUs like Meharry Medical College, Spelman College and Hampton, Howard, Morehouse and Xavier universities. A heavy dependence on private support at these HBCUs forced them to develop and refine giving campaigns over the years. As a result, the schools have successfully raised hundreds of millions of dollars, helping their endowments and foundations thrive in good times while weathering rough patches.
