4 days ago
Bemidji State aims to raise $25 million through 'For the North' campaign
Aug. 7—BEMIDJI — As part of the second fundraising campaign in its 106-year history,
Bemidji State University
is well underway in meeting a $25 million goal for its "For the North" campaign.
Kicking off the "public phase" of the campaign on Tuesday, BSU administration revealed that $19 million had already been raised throughout the "leadership phase" that started in July 2023.
Allyssa Joseph, BSU Alumni and Foundation Executive Director and Vice President of University Advancement, notes the leadership phase as a chance to rally together the top donors for BSU and set the pulse once the public phase rolls around.
"We want to be largely silent within (the leadership phase) to ensure that we can get to a 65 to 75% closure rate of our campaign goal," Joseph said. "Early on, we're asking for those transformational gifts — those million-dollar-plus gifts. Now, we've created an on-ramp for donors to give gifts of all sizes during the public phase."
The "For the North" campaign includes three main pillars: student success, facility upgrades and faculty excellence, and enrollment and recruitment.
Boasting the largest share of the campaign goal is student success with an allotted $20 million. With 95% of BSU students receiving some type of financial aid, this pillar aims to provide greater support in terms of scholarships and other student services.
"What we're about as an institution is taking care of our students," BSU and Northwest Technical College President John Hoffman said. "Investments in scholarships and in student success programs can help make sure that our students are successful while they're here and that they have opportunities to prosper after they graduate."
Student success also encompasses students' opportunities beyond classroom walls.
"Student success is mainly about scholarships and that's largely where our donors want to give, leave a legacy whether it's through an annual scholarship or endowment," Joseph added, "but the other part is ensuring that students have experiential learning opportunities through internships, co-ops, postgraduate studies, travel abroad. We want to make sure that we support their breadth of experience while here at BSU."
Facility upgrades and faculty excellence comprises $3 million of the campaign, aiming for modern, well-equipped facilities as well as top-tier instruction and mentorship.
"You look around at our buildings and they're named mainly after administrators and folks who have done a lot for this campus," Joseph said. "When you walk through the halls, there are so many opportunities for us to see facilities named after donors and alumni who have gone on to do great things that will inspire current students."
The remaining $2 million is reserved for enrollment and recruitment, with emphasis on greater storytelling and digital marketing presence to reach prospective students. Further investment in this category could continue BSU's student body trajectory, according to Hoffman.
"Right now, we're on track for two years in a row with incoming pre-pandemic enrollment numbers," Hoffman mentioned. "Building and solidifying our enrollment streams is just critical for who we are as an institution, for our capacity and our ability to meet the workforce needs of northern Minnesota."
BSU's previous fundraising campaign "Imagine Tomorrow" — which ran from 2011 to 2016 — raked in over $36 million. It's anticipated that "For the North" will reach its $25 million goal in less than half the time.
"We're trying to compress this broader campaign, overarching framework into three years to accelerate the process," Hoffman said, "and infuse these dollars into student success, facility upgrades and faculty excellence, and recruitment and enrollment."
With the 2025-2026 academic year quickly approaching, an official campaign launch event will take place during Homecoming Week on Thursday, Oct. 2. Though funds raised are not specifically a Band-Aid for BSU's ongoing budgetary issues, Joseph expressed optimism that the campaign will instill a greater support system for BSU's future.
"It'll be an opportunity for us to celebrate as a campus together," Joseph left off. "We are ready to heal and I hope this campaign will be a good rallying point for our campus."
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