Florida State University announced the successful completion of the most ambitious fundraising campaign in university history. 

Florida State launched Raise the Torch: The Campaign for Florida State in July 2010 with a goal of raising $1 billion. FSU reached and exceeded that lofty goal with $1,158,665,865 in gifts and pledges received from donors and supporters upon the campaign’s official closing June 30, 2018.

The announcement comes on the heels of FSU’s seven-place climb in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings (from 38^th to 26^th) released earlier this month. The philanthropic support will help Florida State continue to distinguish itself as a preeminent university and bolster its national profile.

The College of Social Work has grown right along with the university, celebrated milestones and helped students succeed during the last eight years of the Raise the Torch campaign. The College of Social Work successfully raised $10,102,301 from over 3000 gifts and pledges.

With private gifts, the College has been able to attract promising young scholars, propel its academic status and appeal to the nation’s highly recognized educators. Since the beginning of the campaign the

College has established 11 new endowments bringing our total to 36 endowed funds. The dollars created by these endowments help support students, programs and faculty annually. Scholarships help fill the financial gap for our students.

The College of Social Work is thankful that scholarships support of social work students continues to grow. This fall, approximately 80 students were be awarded scholarships, totaling $85,000. 

During this time of rapid growth, the college has enhanced several spaces, including the creation of a collaborative space for social work students to study and gather, the updating of the social work lobby in the University Center that highlights the history and philanthropy at the college, and most recently, social work classrooms were updated to enhance the learning experience.

The CSW Arts and Athletics Summer Camp, now in its 7^th year, provides a unique opportunity middle school youths, including those with limited social and economic opportunities, to experience collegiate life. Days are filled with arts, athletic, and leadership experiences that aid in confidence and skills building, and allow them to experience some of the opportunities of campus life. Partnerships with Rosalynn Carter Institute has sustained Operation Family Caregiver program at the College for the past 4 years, which serves caregivers of military veterans, service members and their families.

Lastly, thanks to philanthropic dollars, the Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities Families and Children was established to generate and sustain transformational knowledge for effective policies, services, and usable research for the promotion of communities, families, and children of Florida, the nation and across the globe. The CFC Center provides a unifying entity, which encompasses all of the College’s existing institutes and centers. The Center’s goal is to enhance these entities’ current missions while cultivating new opportunities to pursue external research funding opportunities. The Center is a place that impacts policy, practice, and community, and has established in its first year a research lecture series to bring about connection between interdisciplinary university scholars and researchers with key community partners.

As we move forward we want to continue this momentum we have started and thank you for allowing me to be a part of this journey and congratulations on all the successes we couldn’t do it without all your support.

Colette Podgorski is the Development Director for the FSU College of Social Work. She focuses on promoting philanthropic giving and enhancing operational efficiency in non-profit organizations. 

Contact Colette directly at (850) 228-8536 or cpodgorski@foundation.fsu.edu.