Success During Poor Economy at Northwestern State

Amidst the economic struggles that gave university annual funds fits during the past year, one university experienced record setting success. In northwest Louisiana, the Victory Fund at Northwestern State University showed improvements in nearly every measurable category during the 2009-2009 fiscal year. This success begs the question: what did they do to defeat the poor economy?

According to their recent press release, the Victory Fund at Northwestern State recorded record numbers in total funding secured, Victory Fund gifts, membership, gifts-in-kind, and Board of Directors fundraising. They cited several key reasons for these drastic increases.

First, the department increased efforts to educate their donor base about the contribution levels available and benefits related. In addition, they increased their public relations efforts among their new and established donors. Powerful information initiatives certainly played a part in the increased personal and business donations to the Victory Fund.

The second important piece to the puzzle for Northwestern State was the effort by their board of directors. At the beginning of the year, board members were challenged to raise $100,000 for the department, but exceeded that total by reaching $186,300. The 21 volunteer board members were lead by the university president, Donald Horton.

The final piece to the success of the Victory Fund was the increased marketing and rebranding/logo redesign that the department went through during the year. A new website and improved football and basketball season ticket efforts were essential to the effort.

Northwestern State has shown that a defined strategy and hard work by all parties involved can help development departments succeed (and even set records) in the difficult economic state.