This month, the Naval Institute celebrates the members and donors who have made its first-ever comprehensive campaign a great triumph and a milestone event in its nearly 150 years. To say that raising money during a global pandemic has been a wild ride is an understatement. Had the Institute had a crystal ball in December 2017, when we launched The Power to Inform, Convene, and Inspire Campaign, and foreseen the pandemic and the complexities it would bring to all our lives—and to a major construction project—we might be announcing the start of the campaign now instead of celebrating its successful conclusion.
But in fundraising—as in life—you play the hand you are dealt.
So we conclude our four-year crusade profoundly grateful to all the members and supporters who stepped forward and with a true sense of accomplishment. With a campaign goal of $43.8 million, the Foundation team—a handful of volunteer Trustees and a small in-house staff—raised $46,783,966.
While the crux of the campaign was to support the construction and outfitting of the new Jack C. Taylor Conference Center, all Naval Institute educational initiatives—including Proceedings, Naval History, USNI News, oral history, the photographic archives, essay contests, professional conferences and events, the sponsored-student members program, and the Press—were included in the campaign and benefit from its success.
We are especially thankful for all the donors who placed their trust and confidence in the mission, vision, and leadership of the Institute by offering unrestricted support. We raised two and a half times our unrestricted support goal. These funds not only will be used to underwrite core mission activities of the Institute, but also will enable ingenuity and new strategic initiatives.
What’s next?
If the pandemic has taught us nothing else, it is the necessity to be agile and prepared. For example, a current challenge is the scarcity and cost of paper. It is a scramble to keep ahead of the paper shortages and secure what is required to publish our magazines and books.
As the Naval Institute approaches its 150th anniversary in 2023, the Foundation must continue to raise operating support for the Institute; secure maintenance and technology refresh funds for the Conference Center; and build reserves to ensure the Institute is in a healthy long-term financial position to weather future wild rides.
