USAFA Endowment

Chairman's Report

Dear Academy Friends,

This has been a truly remarkable year for our Academy.

As an old football player, I must admit that I was quite pleased when we finally returned the Commander in Chief’s Trophy to its rightful home in Colorado Springs. Coach Calhoun and our team deserve a hearty “congratulations” for their hard-earned success.

But this past year was important for other reasons as well – many that are closely connected with our business at the Endowment. Most critically, 2010 provided concrete evidence that the cooperative agreement with the Association of Graduates is productive and has real staying power.

Beginning in January of last year, the Endowment assumed the principal fundraising responsibilities for the Academy. The Association of Graduates, in turn, has focused its attention on alumni and parent services, and the complex business we call “friendraising.” This was a significant transition for both organizations, and as you might expect, not without its challenges. We faced an integration of two large databases, the coordination of millions of dollars of outstanding pledges, and the effective communication of these changes to over 60,000 current and future donors. We also shared the difficult task of rebuilding confidence among the graduate community in our collective efforts to support the Academy – a job we took very seriously.

I am pleased to report that amidst these challenges, we exit the year having achieved every target proscribed by the agreement between the two organizations, and share a mutual commitment to continue our collaborative work. In the end, the proof of the value of our model can be seen in our record-breaking results. Specifically:

  • The Endowment concluded the most successful fundraising year in the institution’s history, raising over $14.5 million in 2010, more than double the previous high water mark for fundraising in a single calendar year

  • Graduate donor participation increased by 17 percent, including an equal increase in the number of Sabre Society donors. This is a remarkable result and has had the effect of increasing unrestricted funding levels to the Academy by 19 percent.

  • We broke ground on the largest privately funded capital project in Academy history, the Holaday Athletic Center, exceeding our fundraising goals for the project ahead of schedule

  • We engaged with nine classes on projects to support the Academy

  • We maintained a cost of fundraising of less than ten percent, a remarkable level of efficiency that our donors should continue to expect

  • And finally, we launched the leadership gift phase of the initiative for the new Center for Character and Leadership Development. As of the end of the year, we had raised more than 40 percent of the total funds necessary to reach the project goal.

Indeed, 2010 has been a breakthrough year, and I firmly believe that each of these successes can be attributed to two essential dynamics.

First, we have benefited from the extraordinary generosity of our donors. Increasingly, this charitable giving to the institution by graduates, parents and friends is reflective of the national reputation of our Academy. In the future, we will be called upon more often to provide substantive enhancements to those resources available from federal sources. Like every great public university, private support will play a role in the institution’s success.

And second, I believe that our positive results are a credit to the strength of the relationship with the Association of Graduates. We anticipate that our mutually supportive partnership will continue to drive greater levels of engagement and participation within the various constituencies that care deeply about the future of the institution. Since the Endowment’s inception in July of 2007, we have raised $30 million in support of the Academy, and expect the pace to quicken in the years to come.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the continued dynamic leadership of our Superintendent, Lieutenant General Mike Gould. General Gould has demonstrated great vision in guiding our Academy over the past few years. We are very fortunate that he is at the controls – and we expect many more positive developments for our school in the year to come.

Thank you, once again, for your continuing generous support for our Academy, the Association of Graduates and our ongoing efforts at the Endowment. We sincerely appreciate your help and hope to have it again in 2011.

Best wishes,

A. Bart Holaday, '65
Chairman of the Board
The USAFA Endowment