The Division of University Advancement exists to build, sustain, and enhance financial support to the University through a wide variety of strategic outreach efforts. Monetary gifts and resources are distributed and leveraged to benefit the academic and cultural growth of students, to better serve Elizabeth City State University’s primary constituents, and to enhance the quality of life in northeastern North Carolina. Priorities in the area of university advancement include increasing endowments, annual scholarship , and programmatic support. The division manages all activities that provide the framework for building strong financial support and lasting relationships with alumni, the community, the ECSU Foundation Board of Directors, ECSU employees, corporations, foundations, faith and civic organizations, parents, and friends. As the University’s main external relations and fundraising arm, the Division of University Advancement is headed by a Vice Chancellor and includes the areas of Development, Community Development, and Alumni Relations.
Office of Development
The Office of Development has three components: Annual Giving, Corporate and Foundation Relations, and Major and Planned Giving:
Annual Giving
The Annual Giving component builds a donor base that can be cultivated and developed to support all fundraising efforts; develops and motivates donors who will, on an annual basis, provide gifts to support ECSU; creates awareness and acceptance among a defined constituency; identifies and recommends major gift prospects for capital campaigns and planned gifts; and validates the mission of ECSU on an ongoing basis.
Corporate and Foundation Relations
The Corporate and Foundation Relations component responsible for identifying, cultivating, and soliciting commitments to ECSU from corporations and foundations at the local, state, and national level. This unit is concerned with the writing, submission, and management of proposals to fund academic and scholarship programs and community outreach projects as well as the endowment-building capacity of the University. Corporate & Foundation Development, in cooperation with the Office of Sponsored Programs, assists faculty and staff with the proper networking, the creation of fiscally sound budgets, and the production of strategically written proposals to secure external funding from charitable organizations in the private sector. In addition, this office helps to ensure that each proposal adheres to the guidelines, deadline dates, and paperwork requirements provided by each individual corporation or foundation.
Major and Planned Gifts
The Major and Planned Gifts component is responsible for managing the process of identifying, cultivating, and soliciting commitments to ECSU of $25,000 or more and for instituting and managing a comprehensive planned giving program. Unit functions include increasing the number and dollar amount of major gifts received each year; linking major donor prospects to specific programs and departments; assisting in the development and solicitation of major gift prospects for major multi-year, multi-million dollar campaigns; and enhancing the number of planned giving commitments that ECSU has with individuals and alumni each year. A planned giving advisory committee supports the development of planned giving solicitations and strategies and planned giving workshops, seminars, and publications.
Office of Alumni Relations
The Office of Alumni Relations works to engage alumni and distinctive alumni groups in the life of the University and its programs with a view toward increasing their financial support, volunteerism, increasing the growth and development of alumni chapters, updating and maintaining a list of ECSU graduates, producing alumni publications, and serving as the liaison between the University and the ECSU National Alumni Association.
Office of Advancement Services
The Office of Advancement Services provides support for all areas within University Advancement and serves as a partner through information technology and management, gift processing and records management, donor relations and stewardship, and prospect research and management. The office’s goal is to effectively provide oversight and deliver services that will enable the University Advancement team to advance and fulfill the mission to help fund Elizabeth City State University priorities. Advancement Services endeavors, always, to be best in class, sharing our expertise and professionalism for the good and advancing the mission of ECSU. Advancement Services’ mission is to provide information infrastructure and services to support university advancement activities, and to assist campus-wide university departments and organizations within formation needs in accordance with the university’s mission. Advancement Services protects fundamental rights to privacy and confidentiality and is committed to the ethical collection and use of information. The office follows all applicable federal, state, and local laws as well as university policies governing the collection, use, maintenance,and dissemination of information.
Office of Community & Economic Engagement
Consistent with the ECSU’s mission, the Office of Community & Economic Engagement’s goal is to promote economic, social, and environmental progress for the people of northeastern North Carolina, the state, and the nation. It is focused on empowering the people of northeast North Carolina - intellectually, professionally, socially, and geographically by breaking down barriers that endanger respect, dignity, equality, opportunities and overall community well-being. The OCEE strives to meet the university’s goal to serve the people of North Carolina, especially those living in our 21-county service area, by promoting a culture of community service, engagement, outreach, and support with the following objectives:
- Grow existing relationships with constituents in the surrounding community through active participation in community boards, forums and volunteer opportunities.
- Identify exemplary projects, programs, and initiatives that make a positive and profound impact on the quality of life in North Carolina, and that continue to build partnerships for expanding outreach and engagement.
- Provide Continuing Education and Certificate programs and increase the availability of credit and non-credit courses and educational programs.
- Develop systematic evaluations of all community engagement activities.
- Connect community engagement to on-campus educational and research activities.
- Develop relationships with leading employers in the public and private sectors to help graduates achieve gainful and timely employment.
- Enhance the accessibility of diverse student populations to the university.
- Collaborate with educational institutions, government agencies, and businesses to enhance recruitment efforts.
- Increase the exposure of all stakeholders to university educational programs.
- Expand economic opportunity through research, job training, and support for small/minority business development
- Provide practical learning experiences for students through internships and community service projects.
ECSU Foundation
The Elizabeth City State University Foundation, Incorporated
The Elizabeth City State University Foundation is a nonprofit organization incorporated on February 3, 1971 under the laws of the state of North Carolina. Its mission is to serve as the steward of private contributions to ECSU to provide educational assistance for students, support scholarly development of faculty, facilitate fundraising efforts on behalf of the university, and serve as an advocate for the ECSU community-at-large. The foundation is also the single member of the ECSU Housing Foundation, LLC, a limited liability company formed in North Carolina on December 20, 2002, to further the charitable purposes of the foundation and to construct housing facilities for use by ECSU students. Although legally separate, The Elizabeth City State University Foundation, Inc. and Subsidiary, is a blended component of the university. It is governed by a 25-member board consisting of thirteen (13) ex-officio directors, and eleven (11) elected directors.
ECSU Endowment
The ECSU Foundation is committed to ensuring the future of the University by building its endowment to provide for the university’s needs in perpetuity. The investment and annual reinvestment of the ECSU Foundation endowment, which is allowed at a higher rate of return than other reserve funds, lets the University increase its impact on the region as well as its capacity to meet the needs of the students it serves. The Foundation secures and manages funds, to establish scholarships, support distinguished professorships, and deliver both academic and community outreach programming. In all of its efforts, the ECSU Foundation is dedicated to the advancement and promotion of Elizabeth City State University.
Endowment Minimum Increase | On December 1, 2023 the Elizabeth City State University Foundation Board voted to approve the request from University senior leadership to raise the endowment minimum level from $5,000 to $25,000, effective July 1, 2024. This policy revision will align ECSU with other instutions’ endowment policies in the UNC System and offer greater investment returns in scholarship support.
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