UNCSA receives national award for improvement in fundraising

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has named UNCSA one of the most improved educational institutions in the nation for fundraising in its 2020 Educational Fundraising Awards. 

The Educational Fundraising Awards annually recognize exemplary development programs based on a blind review of data submitted to the CASE Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) Survey. Based on this data, UNCSA was recognized for overall Improvement, citing significant program growth across three years of data. UNCSA was the only university in its category — Public Professional or Specialized Institutions — to receive this distinction.

UNCSA has experienced a groundswell of support from donors in recent years. The university entered the public phase of its first comprehensive fundraising campaign in decades – Powering Creativity: The Campaign for UNCSA – last September, and recently exceeded its preliminary goal of $65 million for scholarships, faculty support, innovation, facilities enhancements and community engagement initiatives.

The CASE national award comes on the heels of two other recent fundraising-related accolades for UNCSA. Earlier this month, the UNCSA Office of Advancement — in collaboration with the UNCSA Office of Strategic Communications and Raleigh-based Myriad Media – received a Gold Telly Award, the highest award category, for “What it Takes,” a video introduction for the Powering Creativity campaign. The Office of Advancement also received a Special Merit Award last year from CASE District III for the case statement publication, Powering Creativity. 

“We are proud of the work that our offices of Advancement and Strategic Communications are doing to generate support for UNCSA and our incredible students, faculty and staff, and we are grateful for the external recognition their efforts are receiving,” said Chancellor Brian Cole. “We are a part of a community and state with a long and proud history of support for the arts and higher education, and I am grateful to our staff for continuing to make connections with donors who are helping our university reach new heights.”

Sue Cunningham, CASE president and CEO, said, “Successful fundraising happens when everyone participates, from the staff and faculty to the institution’s leadership. This inspiring philanthropic engagement is guided by dedicated and professional development staff, and supported by generous volunteers.”

Award recipients were not selected based solely on total funds raised. A committee of experienced fundraisers reviewed hundreds of pages of data from the CASE AMAtlas VSE Survey. They considered a number of factors and variables, including patterns of growth in total support, overall breadth of fundraising, amount raised per student, amount raised relative to expenditures and alumni participation.

“We are grateful to CASE for this recognition and are, above all, grateful to our donors for continuing to build the future of the arts by empowering our emerging artists,” said Edward J. Lewis III, vice chancellor for advancement at UNCSA. “Our university is a special place, full of outstanding students, faculty, staff and administrators who are constantly looking for ways to infuse the world with artistry and creativity. We are proud that our efforts to support them have received this award, and will continue to look for ways to give our university the tools it needs to thrive.”

For more information on Powering Creativity: The Campaign for UNCSA, visit the campaign website.

Contact Media Relations

Get the best news, performance and alumni stories from UNCSA.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS