By Albert Raboteau
Virginia Tech has increased the goal for Boundless Impact, the most ambitious fundraising campaign in university history, from $1.5 billion to $1.872 billion in response to unprecedented generosity from Hokie Nation to date.
The new target alludes to the 1872 founding year of what is now Virginia Tech, which began as the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and is now a nationally renowned institution with enrollment over 37,000 and annual research expenditures over $531 million.
“It’s more than a new goal, it is a number that speaks to our legacy,” said university president Tim Sands about the new figure that was announcedApril 30 at a gathering celebrating the university’s sesquicentennial. “For 150 years we have tapped into powerful partnerships that have supported our students, advanced our university, and made great things possible,” Sands said.
Boundless Impact: The Campaign for Virginia Tech was announced in October 2019 and is due to last through 2027. It’s the fourth national fundraising campaign the university has run, though generous donors have stepped forward in support of the institution since its very beginning.
Recent years have seen a dramatic acceleration in giving with the university setting multiple records for new gifts and commitments and cash raised while also bucking national trends of declining giving participation by alumni.
“Shortly after arriving, President Sands challenged the Hokie Nation to reimagine the scope of what Virginia Tech could be,” said Charlie Phlegar, the university’s vice president for advancement, who is responsible for fundraising. “Since then, our community of alumni and friends have stepped forward to an extraordinary and inspiring degree. Tim boldly challenged us to increase how much we raise each year, increase how many Hokies we inspire to make gifts, and increase our endowment in a major way. He set a high bar, but he knew what we Hokies are capable of, and we have answered the call.”
Virginia Tech’s current fiscal year, which started July 1, 2021, and ends June 30, 2022, has already seen the university announce its largest ever gift by an alumnus and conduct a record-setting Giving Day that raised over $8.4 million from more than 15,700 donors. The university passed the $1 billion threshold for its Boundless Impact campaign toward the end of 2021.
Boundless Impact campaign goals also include engaging 100,000 Hokies in meaningful ways. As the university celebrates its 150th anniversary year, with numerous events planned through December 2022, the campaign is still shy of its midpoint, having begun in a quiet phase in July 2017.
Lynne Doughtie ’85 serves alongside Horacio Valeiras ’80 and Morgan Blackwood-Patel ’03 as a tri-chair of the Boundless Impact campaign.
“When we agreed to co-chair this campaign committee we knew we’d reach our goal, but we had no idea how quickly it would happen,” said Doughtie, who became KPMG’s first female CEO in 2015 and served in that role and as chair of the company until 2020. “We are on track to not only meet, but surpass our [initial] Boundless Impact campaign goal of $1.5 billion. And because of this success, we’re going to go even bigger.”