Brilliant Futures Campaign at Two-Thirds Mark Toward Goal

Brilliant Futures, one of the largest development campaigns in higher education and the largest in the University of Illinois’s 141-year history, has reached the two-thirds point in gift commitments as of the end of September.

The University of Illinois’s Brilliant Futures Campaign stood at $1.478 billion toward its goal of $2.25 billion. The campaign began on July 1, 2003, and will conclude Dec. 31, 2011. The campaign counts outright gifts, grants and pledges to the University as well as deferred gifts commitments. Of the $1.478 billion raised to date, $1 billion were outright gift commitments and $478.3 million were in deferred gift arrangements.

As of Sept. 30, 2008, $1.053 billion had been designated by donors for the Urbana-Champaign campus, $365.7 million for the Chicago campus, $19.8 million for the Springfield campus and $39.7 million for U of I Foundation and University Administration purposes.

“Without question, the support for the Brilliant Futures Campaign has been extremely positive,” said University of Illinois Foundation President Sidney S. Micek. “Our alumni and friends of the University of Illinois have been very generous. They recognize that we have three outstanding campuses and our faculty and students are among the nation’s finest. We are affecting lives throughout Illinois, this country and around the world.”

Almost $611 million of the total raised so far has come from alumni of the University, with another $167 million from non-alumni. Corporations and businesses have contributed $287 million and $271 million has been received from foundations.

Of the total $2.25 billion Brilliant Futures Campaign, $1.5 billion is the goal for the Urbana-Champaign campus. The goal for the Chicago campus is $650 million and the Springfield campus mark is $28 million. The combined goal for University administration and the U of I Foundation is $72 million. The funding goals were determined by the chancellors at each of the three campuses according to priorities identified in a University-wide strategic planning process initiated by University President B. Joseph White in 2005.

The Urbana-Champaign campus plans to use campaign funds to cultivate leaders for the 21st century, provide excellence in academic programs, encourage breakthrough knowledge and innovation, create transformative learning environments and ensure that the best and brightest students have access to the Illinois experience.

Campaign funds for the Chicago campus will help UIC focus on combining an urban university with the resources of a leading research institution to advance the creation and sharing of knowledge, enrich student experiences, expand the Great Cities Commitment, promote healthy societies and increase access to academic excellence.

The Springfield campus will utilize campaign funds to offer innovative, high-quality liberal arts education, public affairs activities and professional programs.

Brilliant Futures is the third comprehensive capital campaign for the University of Illinois. The initial fundraising endeavor, Campaign for Illinois, exceeded its $100 million goal by raising $137 million between 1979 and 1985. The second effort, Campaign Illinois, was launched in 1991 with a goal of $1 billion. When that campaign closed on Dec. 31, 2000, gifts totaled $1.53 billion, making it one of the largest fundraising efforts conducted by a public university at that time.