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For three decades, James Arthur was perfectly pleased to send an annual donation to N.C. State, the university that granted him three degrees.
But last year he began reading about Mary Easley, her pay raise and the university's handling of the matter.
And he put the checkbook away.
“If NCSU can afford to give Mary Easley an $80,000 salary increase, it no longer needs my support,” he wrote in an e-mail this year to the head of N.C. State's annual giving initiative. “That the chancellor of NCSU would give such a rich reward to the wife of a sitting governor has lowered my respect for the chancellor and, sadly, for the school as well.”
Arthur wasn't the only alum displeased with the school's handling of Mary Easley's hiring and raise. University administrators have gotten an earful from graduates, creating a dicey situation for development officials who have scrambled to repair relationships and keep the money flowing.
By some measures, N.C. State is still doing fine. The university received cash donations of about $74 million in the fiscal year that ended Tuesday, almost exactly the same as last year's take. Donations to the annual fund, those $50 and $100 gifts, are up 15 percent from a year ago, said Nevin Kessler, N.C. State's vice chancellor for university advancement.
But new commitments, gifts pledged but not yet actually paid, are down 22 percent from a year ago. Kessler thinks the decline is due more to the weak economy than the Easley situation.
“There's really no way to measure cause and effect,” Kessler said, referring to the Easley saga and its potential impact on fundraising. “That isn't to say we don't have an issue and have to rebuild confidence and trust.”
One wealthy donor displeased with the Easley situation has withdrawn plans for a gift in the $10,000 to $25,000 neighborhood, Kessler said. Others have called to complain, or they vent when a student working the development office phone bank calls asking for $50 or $100. In that situation, students are instructed to remind donors that their money can be designated for whatever use they choose.
Although a university loves the big gift, it also puts a lot of resources into keeping the slow-and-steady donors happy. Arthur, now 76 and retired, received two bachelor's degrees and a master's degree from N.C. State in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Though he moved to South Carolina, N.C. State never left his heart.
But when he read of Easley's raise, he did the only thing he could think of to send a message.
“I thought about the amount of money I'd given to the school over a long period of time, and it paled in comparison to what they were giving her as a raise, so I figured, if you need money, go ask her,” Arthur said. “It's the only way I can make a statement.”
Even if donors such as Arthur ease up on donations, the damage to the university likely will be brief, said Rae Goldsmith, vice president for advancement resources for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, a membership organization for fundraisers.
“If there's a blip, it's a short-lived blip,” Goldsmith said. “As long as people feel the institution is moving forward and getting past it, their connection to the institution tends to outlive their anger.”
