May 2011
Dear Cavalier Friends,
You are the Foundation is our annual campaign theme. It is the passion of our donors that has helped to build the foundation for a strong athletics program. The impact that our donors have had on our athletics program is truly remarkable.
This spring marks my 20th spring with the Foundation—the 20th social season, the 20th football season ticket sales period and the 20th annual fund-raising campaign. Much has happened during that time and many of our donors have been faithful in their support. Over the past several weeks I have been reflecting back over the past 20 years and what our donors have done for our program. Below are a few statistics that help illustrate the impact donors have had:
1. More than 3,000 student-athletes have competed at the University and graduated
2. More than $170 million has been raised from VAF donors to support the scholarships of
these student-athletes
3. More than $235 million has been contributed to build or renovate facilities
4. The scholarship endowment has grown from $4 million to $58 million
VAF has grown into a comprehensive fund-raising organization in that we raise money for scholarships, academic support, operational budget support and facilities. Our donors have responded to our many challenges over the past 20 years and have allowed us to maintain the core of our program—scholarships.
I was fortunate to have received a basketball scholarship for four years at the University and remember vividly my tuition invoice for my last year. It stated that my out-of-state scholarship was worth $11,000 and my balance was “zero.” Donors to what was then called VSAF were responsible for funding my scholarship. Many of those donors are still contributing today and I am thankful for what they provided my teammates and me during my career.
Now 20 years later, the impact on student-athletes’ careers is the same but the numbers have grown dramatically. A full out-of-state scholarship now costs $43,000 and an in-state scholarship is $23,000. The University’s Board of Visitors recently increased tuition for all students at a rate of 8.9%. This will add over $1 million to our scholarship bill just to continue to maintain our current level of funding.
In 2002, we made a commitment to support a fully-funded program, which means that we have to raise enough money each year to fund all of the scholarships in each of our 25 sports. The growth of our annual fund has allowed us to achieve this. Maintaining this level of funding over the last two years has been difficult for many reasons. Annual giving has declined and scholarship costs continue to rise at a dramatic rate. We have not been able to keep pace with these increases and have had to balance our budget by using cash reserves that were set aside many years ago by our Board of Trustees as a result of successful annual fund raising campaigns.
We cannot continue this trend, which is why we have been focused intently on the core of our Foundation—YOU. We must rebuild our annual fund back to previous levels. We have challenged you to increase your annual gift by 10% if possible in order for us to keep up with the University’s tuition increases. We also need to grow our donor base. Donors at every level of giving have an incredible impact on our program.
I know that many times the focus of giving to support an athletics program can be easily centered on how much it takes to get tickets or parking passes. We realize that and are committed to working individually with each donor who has specific needs. I also hope that all of our donors will remember that the contributions that are made each year have an individual impact on a student-athlete’s experience, just like they did on mine. They also build a foundation for success and have done just that for the past 20 years. We are thankful for that support.
Sincerely,
Dirk P. Katstra
Executive Director