August 04, 2006
SIU Foundation honored for fund-raising campaign
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The leading education support organization in the world awarded the SIU Foundation a top prize for Southern Illinois University Carbondale's fund-raising campaign, "Opportunity Through Excellence."
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education awarded the SIU Foundation a gold medal from its 2006 Circle of Excellence awards program. It was one of only five top awards given by the CASE panel of experts in its Individual Fund-Raising Publications category. The group honored the foundation for its campaign case statement.
There were 157 entries in the category. The other four gold medal winners are The University of Minnesota Foundation, The University of Oklahoma, The University of Washington, and The University of Virginia Athletics Foundation.
Implementing a series of capital campaigns is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.
Overall, nearly 700 institutions from around the world submitted more than 3,100 entries in this year's Circle of Excellence awards program. The judges may award gold, silver and bronze awards in each of the 40 categories. Judges have the option of giving no awards, and they also may recognize exceptional entries with a grand gold award.
CASE is the largest international association of educational institutions, serving more than 3,200 universities, colleges, schools and related organizations in 54 countries. It is the leading resource for professional development, information, and standards in the fields of education fundraising, communications and alumni relations.
The Opportunity Through Excellence campaign is an unprecedented $106 million fund-raising effort aimed at revitalizing SIUC. The SIU Foundation, which runs the campaign, so far has raised almost 60 percent of that amount. The goal encompasses three categories: people, programs and places.
Rickey N. McCurry, vice chancellor for institutional advancement and chief executive officer of the SIU Foundation, said the award reflects well on the University.
"We take great pride in this award," McCurry said. "Alumni services staff, foundation staff and others from the Division of Institutional Advancement teamed with members of the University's Media and Communications Resources staff to develop this document along with Snavely and Associates out of State College, Pa. It demonstrates the exceptional talent we have here at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and it represents one of the Core Values of Southern at 150: Excellence as the measure of all things."