ALVA — The director of Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s foundation said a “huge leap of faith” in volunteer fund raisers paid off recently when donors contributed more than twice as much as they have in years past.

“I feel like this is a huge cause for celebration,” said Allen Bird, the foundation director. “The people and businesses in Alva believe in the university, its faculty and its students. They prove that repeatedly with their time and financial resources.”

The annual drive typically brings in between $30,000 and $40,000, so the foundation’s members aimed this year for the $50,000 mark. They raised nearly $80,000.

About $79,750 in payments for one-year commitments have been collected. In addition, the scholarship drive raised 10-year pledges from donors that could reach $300,000 for the future.

NWOSU employees and members of the local community volunteered to raise money for the drive.

James Bowen, dean of the school of professional studies, chairs the on-campus drive with help from his secretary, Brenda Adams. He said that university employees increased their giving by 22 percent from last year. A number of Northwestern personnel are using the automatic monthly withdrawal of funds from their paychecks.

“Fund raising is a huge team effort, and we have an outstanding community-university team,” Bird said. “Not only were we successful in the amount of dollars generated, we had a good time doing it as well.”

This year’s scholarship drive was organized a little differently than in the past. Pledges and donations have come from on and off campus, but this year a Northwestern employee was paired with a member of the business community to form a fund-raising team. A committee led by Mike Knedler, dean of the school of arts and sciences, determined the pairs.

“I think it is a good thing for faculty to join with community patrons to tell the Northwestern story,” Knedler said.

The Millennium Club is the newest giving program established by the Northwestern Foundation.

“Faculty members have the expertise to talk about the institution to potential donors when promoting the Millennium Club. Donors need to understand that their giving is not just about bricks and mortar, but about impacting lives of future generations.”

Teams went out into the community to solicit 10-year commitments to this program, rather than the usual one-year commitments. Bird said that by committing long-term, this will allow the campus and community fund-raisers to go out next year and visit different supporters than the ones contacted this year.

In years past, funds generated by the scholarship drive were directly used for student scholarships. With the new program, funds donated will be placed in a scholarship endowment, where interest from the endowment will fund the student scholarships. Bird said that this should help the program build and the endowment grow.

“We want to have these scholarships last into perpetuity,” Bird said.

The goal of the program is to build an additional $25 million in endowed funds for scholarships over the next 10 years. The Millennium Club offers three levels — platinum, gold and silver. Donors can invest as little as $8.34 a month for 10 years, up to $10,000 or more a year for 10 years. All those committing to the Club will be recognized with a complimentary plaque and coin, with Platinum members receiving even more amenities.

Paul B. Beran, university president, also is pleased with the success of this year’s drive. He said the drive was a good and aggressive plan to generate more money for scholarships. Faculty, staff and members of the community spoke to their peers about long-term commitments for funding more scholarships to keep students at Northwestern once they are here.

Beran also said Northwestern’s supporters continue to be aware of the economic impact the university has locally, as well as statewide.

“We are education for northwest Oklahoma,” Beran said. “We are the chief economic driver for northwest Oklahoma. Northwestern needs northwest Oklahoma and northwest Oklahoma needs Northwestern.”

By continuing to pledge funds to Northwestern’s scholarship drive, Beran said it will allow the university to provide even more scholarships to students who qualify so they’ll be able to graduate without having tremendous debt.

“I guarantee there’s not another public institution with a bigger percentage of students who are on some kind of scholarship than at Northwestern,” Beran said.

Anyone interested in learning more about how they can help Northwestern students by giving to the Foundation, should contact Bird at (580) 327-8593 or e-mail aebird@nwosu.edu.