Pickens enhances scholarship gift-matching program
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
“Boone Pickens’ loyalty to Oklahoma State University academics and athletics has manifested itself in several transformational contributions to our university,” commented V. Burns Hargis, OSU president. “His legendary generosity is incomparable, and the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match means more dollars will be available to help more students in the next few years than we could ever foresee when we launched this campaign. We are deeply grateful for the support of Boone and thousands of Oklahoma State graduates and friends who have also stepped up to support our Branding Success campaign for OSU.”
More than 500 donors have accepted Mr. Pickens’ challenge, raising more than $35 million as part of the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match (PLSM). As a result, more than 105 new endowed scholarships have been established and 93 existing endowed scholarships have received additional funding support.
In response to prospective donors’ requests, Pickens agreed to extend the matching deadline from Oct. 31, 2010, to Feb. 26, 2011, or until the $100 million is exhausted. Additionally, he agreed to enhance the program by providing a 2:1 match for cash, stock and other asset gifts totaling at least $50,000. As a result, a $100,000 gift under the new PLSM formula would translate into a $300,000 scholarship endowment. Pledges of at least $50,000 paid within five years will qualify for a 1.5:1 match. This means a $1 million pledge will produce a $2.5 million scholarship endowment from the PLSM match under the new formula.
“The response has been incredible,” said Pickens. “The challenge gift has done exactly what I had hoped – inspire many others who also love Oklahoma State University to support student success by funding scholarships.”
Pickens continued, “I support President Burns Hargis’ big vision for Oklahoma State to be the best in the nation, and his focus on students. At the end of day, we prepare students to succeed in the world, and devoting half of the $1 billion just for scholarships will take us a long way down the road to achieving that goal.”
“Several donors with multi-million-dollar gifts are finalizing their plans and making sure their gifts qualify for matching under the program,” said Ross McKnight, OSU alumnus and co-chair of the Branding Success campaign along with his alumna wife, Billie. “Donors want to see their gifts support specific programs of interest to them, and they want their gifts put to use as soon as possible. This program allows donors to do more than they could have ever imagined for their areas of interest.”
The scholarship match is retroactive to all Pickens Match gifts. The program also allows multiple donors to join together to make a larger gift.
Additionally, estate gifts paired with an annual contribution are now eligible for a 1:1 match under the PLSM program. In order to qualify for the match, a deferred estate gift must be at least $200,000 and paired with an annual commitment equal to half of the estate gift and paid over a period of up to 10 years. For example, with a $200,000 estate gift, a donor would agree to contribute $10,000 per year for the next decade. Under this example the total gift would equal $600,000 ($200,000 deferred estate gift, $100,000 contribution over 10 years and $300,000 match from the PLSM).
“We have always recognized it would require a broad range of donors making gifts in large and small amounts to reach our goal,” said Kirk Jewell, president and CEO of the Oklahoma State University Foundation. “The Pickens Match has already encouraged people to become involved in the Branding Success campaign and think big about their gifts to our university and their impact. We are well on our way to reaching our goal, and the enhancements to the program we are announcing today will create even more momentum.”
Branding Success: The Campaign for Oklahoma State University has raised $626 million. Just over 57,000 donors to date have given to the campaign. More than $283 million has already been raised toward the goal of $500 million for student scholarships.