An army of funds: Military academy seeks private donations. (Alumni Giving).

Many alumni gladly make a contribution to old State U. on an annual basis, save for those with outstanding student loans. Institutions focus on the desire to update programs and facilities and tug on the heartstrings of nostalgia and need to solicit alumni to remain "part of the family."

The formula works well for many schools, but what if your family already included a wealthy Uncle Sam?

With government funding to rely upon, the United States' military academies have been slow to build fundraising campaigns. But, with Uncle Sam's dollar not stretching as far as it used to, service academies are beginning to erect fundraising infrastructures designed to keep their institutions competitive in the modern collegiate climate.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y, was the first service academy to tackle a large-scale fundraising program and is currently in the last year of its 5-year Bicentennial Campaign. Run by West Point's Association of Graduates (AOG), the campaign cited three goals: Raise $150 million, fund priority needs established by the academy and create a mechanism that could sustain a fundraising program into the future.

To date, AOG has exceeded its goal by amassing more than $200 million in contributions but it was an educational process for both the organization and alumni. "Truthfully, people even what we call our own family -- have the perception that the government takes care of everything," said Greg Louks, manager of the academy's Bicentennial Campaign. "One of our biggest challenges is, and has been, educating our own family."

That education focuses on explaining that there are simply needs for which the government does not provide. Louks cited a number of structural improvements, including new athletic venues such as tennis and Olympic centers, as features that all corps members utilize but are not covered by federal dollars.

Determining how the campaign money would be spent was not an issue that was entirely cut and dried. "The Association of Graduates had concern," Louks said. "This is a federal service academy; the nation's academy that's provided for by Congress. Our concern was that if we get in the knickers and start providing for the things that Congress ought to provide for, what is that going to do to all of us?"

As a result, AOG identified the "coordinates of West Point." The coordinates identify West Point's mission to produce commissioned officers and all the requirements that are necessary to provide for these officers are the responsibility of the government. The AOG also does not handle infrastructure issues, such as building barracks. It is the things above and beyond the corps for which AOG conducts its campaign.

The campaign has been both targeted and multifaceted with solicitations arriving via a number of media.

"We call it a combined arms concept," explained Louks. "We do everything. Our database is very, very accurate. Our graduates have a-strong affinity for the academy so we're able to capture information about them in our database in terms of email addresses and actual addresses and phone numbers. We talk to them through our Assembly magazine, we talk to them on email, on the Internet, in direct mail, during Founder's Day  functions every year."

Despite its rookie success, the organization is not necessarily going to run right into another campaign, according to Louks. "We're going to look at it. But it, more than anything else, provided the momentum for us to educate our own family," he added.

Duty, honor and private gifts

Army and Navy have been historic rivals in athletics for more than a century. So, the following admission may be disconcerting to those who thought they would see the Midshipmen's Bill the goat kiss the Black Knights' mule Traveller before hearing one side give the other credit.

But, the work that West Point has done in campaign fundraising has gotten the other service academies thinking, said Judi Spann, associate director of communications for the United States Naval Academy Foundation (USNAF) in Annapolis, Md.

During the past two years those thoughts have lead to the formation of USNAF, an organization separate from the Naval Academy, that exists to raise private gifts to support the institution. The nonprofit is currently conducting a 5-year, $175 million campaign - the largest in academy history. By May this year the foundation had raised $102 million and has until December of 2005 to reach goal.

USNAF used a bit of its alumni clout when it launched the campaign in June, 2001. Some 500 guests consisting of donors, prospects, members of the board and special friends of the academy were invited to a sit-down, black tie dinner with campaign co-chairs, including Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer and alumnus Roger Staubach. Staubach is just one of a number of alumni who are out in the civilian world and in the corporate community helping to spread the word regarding the campaign.

USNAF decided to market itself further by printing its campaign case statement -- standard procedure for most universities -- and mailing it to approximately 8,000 alumni. According to Spann, the message being passed along by West Point is that the government does not provide for the whole of the institution.

"What the government cannot provide is what we call 'the margin of excellence'," Spann explained. "Those are the things over and above what the government can provide, in other words, endowed academic chairs -- that's not

something that the government would do. Additional sports facilities ... we're raising $40 million to renovate the football stadium."

In soliciting alumni the organization does not put all its hopes into one significant direct mail campaign. Fundraising is funneled through the alumni association and has targeted more formal and varying vehicles. Campaign goals and updates are passed along at alumni events throughout the country as well as through the academy's alumni magazine. It's a process that has been changing the way needs are perceived.

"We did encounter back in the beginning some apprehension to give," acknowledged Spann. "But we have been able to communicate effectively to all of our constituents. It has to start at the top. We have the full support of the Naval Academy's Board of Visitors for this campaign, the superintendent, the faculty, the alumni and parents on down. So, that everyone knows that the federal government will continue to provide appropriations for the core course requirements at the Naval Academy. That includes the buildings and the dormitory and the electricity and things like that."

Spann drew comparisons to state colleges, like the University of Maryland that is .state supported but still does a lot of private fundraising. Those dollars go toward benefits beyond the core program requirements for which the state provides. In many ways the Naval Academy is not unlike that type of state school but on a national scale.

Being on a grand scale also means competing against the Princetons and Stanfords of the world to secure the top high school students. To attract those students the Naval Academy needs those extra benefits that lush campuses provide: Excellent facilities, esteemed faculty and an abundance of athletic opportunities. All are factors in the college decision process and all require private funding.

If post-September 11 is any indicator, the Naval Academy should continue to be successful with its current campaign. The USNA did not see a decline in donations following the terrorist attacks, in fact, the foundation exceeded all of its fundraising goals for 2001. USNAF graduates, 14 in all, were killed in the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, but Spann said that she was unsure if there was a connection between the loss of alumni and the strong fundraising numbers last year. With a strong campaign sailing along, the fundraising horizon looks bright for the Naval Academy. "I don't think fundraising will always be this way (solely targeting only alumni)," Spann said. "There are people out there who are not graduates who do have an interest in not only the Naval Academy but services academies in general because of what our graduates do for the country."