CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S MESSAGE

Last year, I had the privilege of being able to report to you on the success of the university’s first major fundraising campaign, DECLARE: The Campaign for CSULB.  In the time since that historic announcement, the University Relations and Development team has amassed and analyzed an impressive amount of campaign data; this information is helping us better understand our campus and constituents and will be of tremendous value in guiding our future fundraising efforts.  Here are just a few highlights:

• We raised a total of $238 million, easily surpassing our original $225-million campaign goal.
• We received a total of 268,808 campaign gifts.
• We created 208 new scholarships during the campaign.
• We received campaign gifts from 92,479 donors; of those, 55,891 were first-time donors to the university.

All of these outcomes are exciting and gratifying.  But I am probably most encouraged by the last statistic — by the fact that we received gifts from nearly 56,000 new donors during the DECLARE campaign.  It’s great to see such a positive response to our efforts to expand outreach to our 300,000-member alumni community and to members of the larger southern California community, as well.  The support of both groups is essential for our success.

I should add that the university’s future growth and viability also depend in a very real way on our ability to create a culture of philanthropy on campus and throughout the Beach community.  The DECLARE campaign not only raised much-needed funds for student and program support, but it also provided a platform for sharing our message about the importance of private giving with a larger audience.  We will continue to emphasize this message moving forward.

Thank you for helping us make our campaign goals a reality!

Sincerely,

Andrea Taylor ’83

Chief Executive Officer