K-State Continues to Lead Big 12 in Percentage of Alumni Giving

Tuesday, August 9th, 2005

It’s another year at the top of the Big 12 Conference in terms of fundraising statistics for Kansas State University. Wildcat alumni continue to be among the most supportive and generous college alumni in the nation, according to a report just issued by the Council for Aid to Education (CAE).

The CAE 2004 Voluntary Support of Education report placed K-State at No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 2 in the nation among similar colleges and universities. During the last reporting year, K-State’s 30.02 percent response rate was six percentage points better than the second and third place Big 12 universities. The rankings compare alumni donors with solicited alumni.
 K-State has ranked among the top three in the Big 12 and Big 8 conferences for nearly two decades and has held a position in the top 10 nationally during that time.

“K-State enjoys an envied tradition of alumni participation,” said Lyle Pishny, chairman of the KSU Foundation Executive Committee. “Positive experiences during the undergraduate years, extending into professional careers, create an atmosphere that helps sustain broad and generous support.”

Pishny cited Telefund as one of the keys to K-State’s alumni participation totals. Telefund is the world’s largest all-volunteer telephone campaign for higher education, annually including more than 22,000 donors.

During the 2004 report year, K-State’s 30.02 percent participation was based on 33,143 donors from among the 110,380 solicited alumni. In the Big 12, the University of Oklahoma ranked second with 24 percent (24,381 and 101,587) and the University of Kansas was third at 23.88 percent (37,785 alumni donors and 158,205 alumni solicited). The Big 12 average is 17.92 percent. K-State’s alumni participation national ranking among public research/doctoral colleges and universities trailed only the College of William and Mary with 30.30 percent.

Kansas State University alumni and friends contributed $41.8 million to the KSU Foundation in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005. Donors committed an additional $26 million through pledges, bequests and other planned giving vehicles, bringing the total gift activity to $67.8 million.

The KSU Foundation coordinates fundraising efforts with alumni, friends, corporations and foundations to secure private support for Kansas State University.