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September 28, 2009
Campaign gifts fuel strategic plan goals

Providing the framework for Campaign Emory, Emory’s strategic plan informs every area of fundraising across the University. Because the priorities of the campaign were derived from the plan, Emory is assured that its fundraising efforts support those areas essential to achieving the University’s long-range vision, not just meeting its short-term needs, says Susan Cruse, senior vice president for development and alumni relations.

Since the campaign began in 2005, members and friends of the Emory community have made steady investments in that vision, fulfilling their own philanthropic goals by supporting the people, programs and places that speak to their personal interests and passions.

“Whether donors invest in a specific school or unit or make an unrestricted gift, their dollars further the goals of Emory’s strategic plan,” Cruse says.

Gifts to support faculty, for example, help ensure that Emory has exceptional teachers and researchers to direct the University’s learning, research, scholarship, and service programs, she says. Donors are establishing new endowed chairs and professorships, funding existing ones, and providing support for academic fellowships to attract leading scholars.

Investments in scholarships and financial aid enable Emory to enroll the best undergraduate and graduate students and provide support for them to succeed. In particular, donor support through Campaign Emory is advancing the University’s goal of building a permanent endowment for Emory Advantage. This and other financial aid programs fulfill Emory’s commitment to need-blind admission, which expands the economic and cultural diversity of the student body.

Donors who invest in Emory’s social and physical environment help enrich the intellectual work and lives of students, faculty and staff, Cruse says. Private gifts are funding facilities improvements to support teaching and research across the University. Gifts to Campus Life strengthen the Emory experience for all students.
At the core of Emory’s academic work, Cruse notes, is the drive to understand and improve the human condition. Campaign investments in Emory’s programs and people enable the exploration of spirituality and humanity across disciplines, promote dialogue across cultures, and improve health locally and around the world.

Guided by the strategic plan, gifts to advance Emory’s research efforts are driving progress across the disciplines, shifting the focus of contemporary medicine from disease management to prevention and health maintenance, and inspiring creative collaboration among disciplines in exploring new ideas.

In all areas, donors are increasing the University’s positive contributions to the larger community, improving Emory’s ability to collaborate with growing numbers of partners, and fostering innovation and creativity, Cruse says. The result, she adds, is a vibrant university that reflects the strengths and challenges of the world around it.

“When this campaign ends in 2012, we’ll have built a community that values philanthropy as a way to create positive change in the world,” she says.

For more information, visit campaign.emory.edu.