Despite challenging economic times, Cal Poly Pomona has amassed more than $100 million in donations and pledges midway through an ambitious fundraising campaign, university officials announced Wednesday.
The Campaign for Cal Poly Pomona was launched in November 2010 with a goal of raising $150 million for research, scholarships and other campus needs. The first comprehensive fundraising effort of its kind at the school, it began amid a recession that sapped resources from potential donors as well as from state coffers, resulting in steep funding cuts to California’s public colleges and universities.
California State University’s 23 campuses lost $750 million in state funding in 2011-12, with cuts to the Pomona campus totaling nearly $32.5 million. But those and previous cuts have spurred support from alumni and others, including 5,000 donors who made first-time contributions, officials said.