Courier-Journal reporter Nancy Rodriguez looks at college and university fundraising in today’s edition: Donations boost area colleges: Public schools rely more on alumni aid (Courier-Journal.com)

Rodriguez accurately portrays the vital role that alumni giving and other private donations play in supporting independent colleges and universities, and captures the increasing importance of these campaigns for public institutions.

Private schools have traditionally leaned heavily on fundraising — Southern Kentucky’s Lindsey Wilson College used the $3.1 million it raised last year to fund 12 percent of its operating budget.

But public institutions are more aggressively courting alumni, trying to raise more money to cover state funding shortfalls

Rodriguez also looks at Bellarmine University, Centre College, and Transylvania University and their reliance on satisfied alumni to support campus operations and undergraduate financial aid.

While small liberal-arts institutions like Bellarmine University, Centre College and Transylvania University don’t raise as much as those bigger schools, they did a better job of getting their graduates to give, the survey shows.

Kristen Nakamura Wallitsch, a 2000 Bellarmine graduate, started out giving about $25 to $30 a year and now donates several hundred dollars, which is matched by her husband’s company.

“I really liked the personal experience that you get at Bellarmine,” she said, “and I want other people to be able to have that experience as well.”

Donors like Wallitsch helped Bellarmine increase its fundraising 58 percent this past year — a jump that university President Joseph McGowan credited to a new school plan that calls for major expansion in enrollment, programs, schools and facilities.

Likewise, Centre and Transylvania persuaded nearly half of their alumni to donate.

“History and tradition and a sense of loyalty, all of those things play into a high percentage of giving,” said Richard Valentine, vice president for development for Transylvania, adding that the small enrollment, about 1,100 students, helps.

“We have the ability to communicate with our folks in a more personal fashion. We’re not dealing with the gazillion alums that most state schools have.”

Read the full article here, where you can also find a link to a database of fundraising by institution.