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The School of Family and Consumer Sciences raised $2.8M to win the $800,000 challenge grant.

By University Communications
March 10, 2008

The University of Arizona’s John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences has won an $800,000 challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation by raising more than $2.8 million in 12 months for the school’s new building.

It is the University’s first Kresge grant since 1991. The fundraising effort is the final leg of the privately funded, $24 million capital campaign for the 72,000-square-foot McClelland Park, which is scheduled for completion in June.

“This capital campaign has been an extraordinary public-private partnership that demonstrates the widespread enthusiasm for the great things happening at the Norton School and the UA,” said UA President Robert N. Shelton. “Earning the support of The Kresge Foundation is a prestigious honor.”

In March 2007, the Norton School received the Kresge challenge, which required that the capital campaign reach its fundraising goal by February.

From March 2007 to February 2008, donors contributed more than 1,200 gifts – ranging from $10 to $500,000 – generating more than $2.8 million for the project. During the challenge:

• UA alumnus Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy’s Inc., helped the school secure more than $1.2 million from 20 corporations.
• The executive board of the school’s Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing pledged a combined $200,000 over the next five years.
• A series of grassroots campaigns led by hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community raised more than $165,000 in smaller gifts.
• The Marshall Foundation committed $200,000 to create the Louise Foucar Marshall Student Commons near the building’s front entrance.
• Two of the school’s most visible donors, John Norton and Norman McClelland, each pledged additional gifts of $500,000 in the final weeks of the drive.

“The challenge was a much more powerful tool than I thought it would be,” said Soyeon Shim, director of the Norton School and the campaign’s faculty leader. “It was no longer a goal for a few people, but became a goal for everyone to secure the Kresge grant.”

The Kresge Foundation's Capital Challenge Grant Program is designed to assist organizations in accelerating capital fundraising campaigns, while building long-term relationships with donors and volunteer leaders beyond a building project's completion.

Grant recipients raise initial funds toward their respective projects before requesting Kresge support. Grants are then made on a challenge basis, requiring the recipient to raise the remaining project balance by a deadline. It is an “all-or-nothing” challenge. Jenny Flynn, director of the UA Foundation’s Grant Information, Facilitation and Training Center, managed the grant proposal process in partnership with the Norton School.

The Norton School houses two academic divisions, Family Studies and Human Development, and Retailing and Consumer Sciences. Together, they host three research and outreach institutes or centers, including the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing and the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth and Families.

The Kresge Foundation is a national foundation with $3 billion in assets. Through its grant-making programs, the foundation seeks to strengthen nonprofit organizations by catalyzing their growth, connecting them to stakeholders and challenging greater support through grants.