SOUTHEAST FOUNDATION SHAKES MONEY TREE

Southeast Missouri State University shook the money tree in fiscal 1998, raising nearly $5.8 million.

Gifts to the school's foundation increased almost 100 percent from fiscal 1997.

The Southeast Missouri University Foundation received $5.77 million in the year ending June 30. That was an increase of nearly $2.89 million from the previous year, foundation officials said.

The financial gifts included a record $5.3 million in cash contributions. The previous record for cash gifts was $3 million in fiscal 1994.

Foundation officials said significant increases in financial gifts came from non-alumni, Southeast graduates and organizations.

The only drop in contributions came from firms and corporations, which gave nearly $453,000 in fiscal 1998. That was a decrease of more than $76,000 from the previous year, officials said.

T. Ronald Hahs of Cape Girardeau chairs the foundation's board of directors.

Hahs attributed the increased giving in part to the leadership of university President Dr. Dale Nitzschke.

He also credited the fund-raising efforts led by Wayne Davenport, who heads the foundation as executive director and serves as the school's vice president for university advancement.

A year ago, the university established a new division of university advancement.

Davenport said the university will never be able to adequately express its appreciation to all the donors.

"My colleagues in the division also deserve a great deal of credit for these accomplishments," he said.

Davenport said Nitzschke's popularity has greatly helped in raising funds for the school.

Financial contributions reflect a vote of confidence in the school's administration, he said. "People off campus and on, but particularly off campus, when they vote with their money, that is a real vote."

Davenport, who has been on the job for little more than a year, said the university and its fund-raising foundation are seeking to tap into the school's large base of graduates.

"I think we are casting a broader net and doing more of what we call constituent fund raising," he said Sunday.

"We just have an awful lot more friends and alumni who are recognizing that Southeast Missouri State is a really good investment of their private dollars," Davenport said.

The school's fund-raising success included the establishment of 40 new, academic scholarships last fiscal year.

Donations to Southeast last fiscal year included more than $450,000 raised through the school's athletics Booster Club.

Southeast raised $158,531 in pledges from its telephone solicitations. That included $72,980 from 1,889 Southeast graduates who made their first-ever donation to the school.

Overall, the number of telephone pledges increased 65 percent to 3,461, and the dollars pledged increased 48 percent.

Davenport said the university's employees increasingly are donating money to the foundation, he said, explaining that "you have deans that are more involved. You have department chairs that are more involved."

He said the school's financial success didn't just happen. It is the result of the efforts of many people over the years.

"The seeds were planted over any number of years," said Davenport.

The school's fund-raising success in fiscal 1998 bodes well for the future, he said.

"I think it should make everyone that is associated with the institution feel proud and optimistic," he said.