Shippensburg University Foundation
 
Celebrates 25 Years of Success
  
     
  The Shippensburg State College Foundation opened its doors 25 years ago with two goals: to raise money for the ultimate use of the College and to make it more convenient for benefactors to contribute.  
   
  This year, as the Shippensburg University Foundation celebrates its silver anniversary, the Foundation has become a blueprint for public/private cooperation. The SU Foundation attracts more than $4 million annually in private support that complements the University's public funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Leaders from the University and from the Foundation work together to identify high priority needs and to ensure gifts to the Foundation are used effectively.  
   
   
  Over the past 25 years the SU Foundation has raised more than $50 million, completing several successful campaigns. The Foundation manages more than $15 million in investments, and is involved in projects ranging from building student-housing units to renting facilities to local social service agencies.  
   
  The newest challenge is the new comprehensive campaign with components totaling at least $40 million. At its launch, the new campaign is the largest in the history of Shippensburg University and the largest among the 14 universities in the State System of Higher Education.  
   
  The importance of the SU Foundation cannot be overstated. Dr. Anthony F. Ceddia, president of the University, points out that the Foundation provides the financial stability and resources that have enabled the University to prosper. "Shippensburg is a proud member of the State System of Higher Education, and we will continue to be," Dr. Ceddia said. "However, the percentage of our annual operating budget that is supported by state funding has declined over the years, and today public funds account for less than 40 percent of our budget."  
   
   
  "That's where the Foundation has been an invaluable partner," he said.  
  The idea for an independent foundation dates to the mid-1970s. The Shippensburg State College faculty wanted to increase the number of academically talented students at the institution by generating funds for scholarship support, and they approached Gilmore B. Seavers, then president of the College. President Seavers and the faculty envisioned an independent, non-profit organization that could raise more money by making it easier for prospective donors to support the College.  
   
   
  During more than a year of planning, a board of directors was recruited and a charter was secured. The charter established the Shippensburg State College Foundation as a vehicle for attracting private funds, including expanded alumni giving, in support of the College.  
   
  Richard D. Rife, then president of Capital Blue Cross, was elected the first president of the Foundation, and served for four years in that post. He continues to serve as a member of the Board of Directors.  
   
  "Our goal was to raise more money that would be used for activities that supported the College," Rife recalled. "People were interested in giving money to Shippensburg, but they wanted to do so without having their gift be subject to the Commonwealth's budget restrictions."  
   
  One way that donors had used was to set up trust funds at local banks. The problem, Rife said, "was that there were, literally, a hundred different trust funds, each with specific restrictions."  
   
  To remedy that situation, the Foundation approached each of the donors and got them to agree to transfer their funds from their bank to the Foundation. "By bringing all of the funds together we were able to generate a better rate of return," he said. The Foundation also worked to get current students and their parents involved in supporting Shippensburg.  
   
  From the beginning, the Foundation has been very successful. In its first two years alone, from 1978 to 1980, the percentage of alumni who were contributors increased from less than 10 percent to over 18 percent. Today, the percentage of alumni who are contributors is 33 percent, a rate that is the highest among the universities in Pennsylvania's State System.  
   
  The Foundation's first major project involved renovating and upgrading Old Main. The estimated cost was $350,000 and, Rife recalled, "We ended up raising $450,000 to complete the project. For a Foundation that was only a couple of years old, that was quite an achievement."  
   
  Thinking back to the first years of the Foundation, Rife said, "If someone had told us then that, 25 years later, we would be launching a $40 million campaign, they would have been laughed out of the room."  
   
  The Shippensburg University Foundation is incorporated under the nonprofit corporation law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the purpose of receiving gifts, grants, devises, or bequests for the ultimate use of Shippensburg University. The Foundation received its tax-exempt status in 1978.