Ashland University’s five -year fundraising effort has substantially surpassed its original goal.

Set in 2017 with a goal of 50 million dollars, the Campaign for Every Individual has recently exceeded 84 million dollars raised. Due to this overwhelming support from donors, the University has decided to set a new goal of 100 million over the remaining months.

Ashland University President Dr. Carlos Campo commented on the new goal, stating, “Honestly, when we set the goal of $50 million, we weren’t sure we were going to be able to get there. We might double it–we most likely will double it by that time. All said and done, it’s just a testament to our team.”

This Campaign for Every Individual has been the largest fundraising campaign in Ashland’s 144-year history, with over 17,082 gifts and 4,455 new donors. campus administrators are hopeful that this trend will continue into the future.

As for the application of the funding, money from this campaign will be divided among multiple projects on campus.

More than 11 million dollars will support academics, with hopes of a new engineering management program being one of the highlights.

Additionally, funding will go toward significant residential hall upgrades, and the Campus Beautification Project that will upgrade the exterior of campus with four areas of focus.

“I would fully suggest that by this time next year, we’re going to see a lot of that change,” said Dr. Campo in regard to the beautification project.

Most of the investment decisions are donor driven, said Campo. “We talk to them about their dreams and then we talk to them about our needs. And we see if there’s an overlap between them,” he said. “So you have someone like Bob and Jan Archer, who say, ‘we want to see the library reframed into something really special for students,’ or the Niss family coming together to say that, ‘we want to see this indoor field house.’”

These are just a few areas that this funding will benefit. As additional donations come in, administration will continue to work with donors to address student needs and new, exciting possibilities.

Dr. Campo remains hopeful about meeting the new goal.

“The donors have just come in full force, and I think they’ve seen the vision at our institution,” he said. “They believe in our leadership and it’s really made a difference.”