It’s been an interesting year in the life of a capital campaign for the State University of New York at Binghamton, which has seen its share of good and bad news. An anonymous gift of $6 million buoyed the spirits of foundation officers. But the economic recession made fund raising a challenge, and the campaign may be further complicated by an athletics scandal that drew national media attention.
For better or worse, however, the campus is moving forward with a decidedly nontraditional public campaign launch, hoping to shift the focus to all that is “Bold” and “Brilliant” about Binghamton.
Binghamton has spent the past five years of a seven-year campaign in the “quiet phase” — a period where donors are cultivated and gifts are collected without a formal kickoff. That phase will come to an end April 22, when the university begins a two-year public phase designed to be a final push toward the $95 million goal. While these public kickoffs are commonly black tie affairs, Binghamton — a relatively young institution founded in 1946 — is abandoning that model for a more virtual approach. Rather than reaching out just to a core group of donors, the university will target students and alumni through an online “event” featuring chat rooms for old friends and videos about faculty scholarship areas.
The Web interface will feature 16 “Party Rooms,” designed to connect alumni who shared the same residence halls or majors. The hosts of these “parties” could be faculty advisers from the residence halls or famous alumni like the actor William (Billy) Baldwin, who has been invited to participate.