It's like a scholarship. You have to pay $20,000 a semester in tuition, but we'll give you a $10,000 scholarship (if you're really smart). See, you've already paid half of it!

The hilarious part is they mailed out 8x8x8 gold cardboard boxes to the rich folk (I didn't get one) announcing a big dinner on November 1st. Inside the box was some green and gold shredded paper and two sparklers. And the word illuminate.

I guess the board has turned the university into the Illuminati.

No telling how much that cost. Hope to Hell it works

Stranger said:

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The hilarious part is they mailed out 8x8x8 gold cardboard boxes to the rich folk (I didn't get one) announcing a big dinner on November 1st. Inside the box was some green and gold shredded paper and two sparklers. And the word illuminate.

I guess the board has turned the university into the Illuminati.

No telling how much that cost. Hope to Hell it works

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What do you need that stuff for? You've been kissed by Jaye P. Morgan.

So they are saying they have raised roughly 500 mil since 2014 for the endowment? According to Wikipedia our endowment is now in 2017, 1.23 billion.

I periodically check out endowment but Wikipedia is my source not directly Baylor. I can tell you according to Wikipedia it has been about 1 billion since I started checking around 2010. The 1.23 in 17 when I just checked was a little spike. As of 18 is it now 1.55 billion? I'm assuming if the goal is 1.1 billion added to the endowment they have a goal of total endowment of about 2.1 billion.

Monies raised for the Foster Business School building and the football Stadium will be included in this number. Interesting, most all current top admin of Baylor were not even at the school when this campaign "began"... so to speak. New President, Provost(s), VP of Advancement, VP of Business Affairs (CFO)...

New buildings on the Horizon...New Basketball arena...Huge new Welcome center and "entrance to the University" on the 14 or so acres on the I-35 frontage road where I-Hop currently stands.

I thought this money was being raised for the endowment not for spending money or for money already spent.

PartyBear said:

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So they are saying they have raised roughly 500 mil since 2014 for the endowment? According to Wikipedia our endowment is now in 2017, 1.23 billion.

I periodically check out endowment but Wikipedia is my source not directly Baylor. I can tell you according to Wikipedia it has been about 1 billion since I started checking around 2010. The 1.23 in 17 when I just checked was a little spike. As of 18 is it now 1.55 billion? I'm assuming if the goal is 1.1 billion added to the endowment they have a goal of total endowment of about 2.1 billion.

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Wish we had FOBob around here to ferret out figures. May have to get in touch with him.

Back when Kenneth Starr was trying to raise $100million for his Presidential Initiative, he hit the wall at $30million. He turned Ramsower and a couple of money guys onto the project.

What resulted was they added in all scholarship money that had already been pledged to athletics and academic funds. The also counted money pledged to the new business school and to the stadium.

Presto! All of a sudden Starr's goal was met. Basically none of it was new money. Just robbed Peter to pay Paul. The Baylor version of the truth.

This story was verified to me by two different development officers who were in the room when this was told to them as to where the money was coming from. And the identity of the officers is a dead man oath.

I'll dig up what I can find out. I seriously doubt Illuminati is all new money.

Money that has been spent isn't money going into the endowment. That's like saying money I get tomorrow I'm applying to my credit card bill, therefore I have deposited that amount into my savings account.

PartyBear said:

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So they are saying they have raised roughly 500 mil since 2014 for the endowment? According to Wikipedia our endowment is now in 2017, 1.23 billion.

I periodically check out endowment but Wikipedia is my source not directly Baylor. I can tell you according to Wikipedia it has been about 1 billion since I started checking around 2010. The 1.23 in 17 when I just checked was a little spike. As of 18 is it now 1.55 billion? I'm assuming if the goal is 1.1 billion added to the endowment they have a goal of total endowment of about 2.1 billion.

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How much debt did they also take on during this time period? At one time that figure was ~$600 million. True Net Worth subtracts out debt they took on to build so many new structures. Also, IMO, the Title IX debacle and BOR screw ups will cost the University over $200 Million based on what other Universities have publicly disclosed their scandal costs to be. That figure could go higher if the insurance coverage that the BOR have counted on gets "clawed back" because of possible found "misdeeds" by certain BOR members and administrators.

ABC BEAR said:

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Stranger said:

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The hilarious part is they mailed out 8x8x8 gold cardboard boxes to the rich folk (I didn't get one) announcing a big dinner on November 1st. Inside the box was some green and gold shredded paper and two sparklers. And the word illuminate.

I guess the board has turned the university into the Illuminati.

No telling how much that cost. Hope to Hell it works

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What do you need that stuff for? You've been kissed by Jaye P. Morgan.

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There is THAT!

Apparently the powers that be at Baylor feel they must spin and lie to everybody, especially donors, supporters and loyal alumni.

Couldn't find FOBob, but another friend had access to the information.

Here are the actual financial numbers from Baylor. The numbers don't lie. You can't find the totals they claim anywhere in their financials.

Per the audited financial statements for FY15, FY16, FY17 and FY18, gifts to endowment for FY15 were $25.8 million, for FY16 were $27.1 million, for FY17 were $19.1 million and for FY18 were $16.8 million for a total of $88.8 million. That info is available in Note 3 to the audited financial statements for FY16 (covering both FY15 and FY16) and FY 18 (covering both FY17 and FY18) available here:
https://www.baylor.edu/financial_services/doc.php/272498.pdf
https://www.baylor.edu/financial_services/doc.php/322683.pdf

Even if you include FY14 (audited financials available at https://www.baylor.edu/financial_services/doc.php/232563.pdf ), that was only another $19.9 million.

According to VP of advancement Rosselli's charts, Baylor raised or has been pledged gifts in the range of $75 Million to some $125 million in each of the past 4-5 years. This should include the money for Foster business building and the stadium so not sure where the other figures come from. My guess is Baylor sold bonds or took out large loans for completion of those two big projects.

IamBaylorOne said:

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According to VP of advancement Rosselli's charts, Baylor raised or has been pledged gifts in the range of $75 Million to some $125 million in each of the past 4-5 years. This should include the money for Foster business building and the stadium so not sure where the other figures come from. My guess is Baylor sold bonds or took out large loans for completion of those two big projects.

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I listed Links to Baylor's figures. The numbers don't lie.

It looks like contributions trailed off tracking right along with football decline. It appears they are down by about 40% from 2 years ago.

Looks like some Fuzzy Math.....

We know why giving has decreased since late FY16....Some of those amounts though are solid in 14, 15, and 16 considering oil & gas was in the dump and I know for a fact that some giving is automatically tied with price of oil.

YoakDaddy said:

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We know why giving has decreased since late FY16....Some of those amounts though are solid in 14, 15, and 16 considering oil & gas was in the dump and I know for a fact that some giving is automatically tied with price of oil.

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All valid points, but why does Baylor publish they have raised half of the $1.1 billion when it is clear they have not?

Stranger said:

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YoakDaddy said:

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We know why giving has decreased since late FY16....Some of those amounts though are solid in 14, 15, and 16 considering oil & gas was in the dump and I know for a fact that some giving is automatically tied with price of oil.

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All valid points, but why does Baylor publish they have raised half of the $1.1 billion when it is clear they have not?

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Don't know, but those with fiduciary responsibility should know.

YoakDaddy said:

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Stranger said:

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YoakDaddy said:

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We know why giving has decreased since late FY16....Some of those amounts though are solid in 14, 15, and 16 considering oil & gas was in the dump and I know for a fact that some giving is automatically tied with price of oil.

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All valid points, but why does Baylor publish they have raised half of the $1.1 billion when it is clear they have not?

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Don't know, but those with fiduciary responsibility should know.

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It's not the first time Baylor has lied about numbers. Do they not think donors connect the dots? They are only off by over $400million.

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

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I guess the part that I am having trouble grasping is that if an entity's true goal is to raise X amount of dollars in a fundraising effort, why in the world would entity embellish or use funds that have already been raised?

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If you're goal is to raise $500 million, it sounds good to say your goal is double that and you've already raised half it. It creates a false crowd/psychological imperative for the crowdfunding effort which makes future donors think that an army of prior donors has already ponied up and if you refuse to do so, you're part of the out of touch minority.

Or maybe they're just listening to too much Joel Osteen.

I'm not doing a thing until I get my damn sparklers! AckAckAckAckAckAck!!!!!!

Seems to me, if you already have an endowment of around $1.1billion and you want to double that amount, why would tell everybody that you've already raised that much. Shouldn't you just announce that you've added $5 hundred million to the endowment?

Stranger said:

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Seems to me, if you already have an endowment of around $1.1billion and you want to double that amount, why would tell everybody that you've already raised that much. Shouldn't you just announce that you've added $5 hundred million to the endowment?

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I wonder if outside counsel's trips to/from southern France were deducted from the total? Just being cynical

I guess it's also not unscrupulous to take money that you have claimed was part of a past fundraising goal, and then use it towards a future fundraising goal for another project? The circulating dollar.

So how we doing? Has Baylor reached their goal yet? Whether they have or not, I expect a press release soon saying that the goal has been exceeded and the effort has exceeded all expectations. All is well and good in BaylorLand.

Maybe someone decided that "fungible funds" meant that the alumni and donors were happy in the dark and with fertilizer?

RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

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So how we doing? Has Baylor reached their goal yet? Whether they have or not, I expect a press release soon saying that the goal has been exceeded and the effort has exceeded all expectations. All is well and good in BaylorLand.

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They'll be passing the collection plate around during half-time.

YoakDaddy said:

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RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:

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So how we doing? Has Baylor reached their goal yet? Whether they have or not, I expect a press release soon saying that the goal has been exceeded and the effort has exceeded all expectations. All is well and good in BaylorLand.

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They'll be passing the collection plate around during half-time.

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And they'll be announcing attendance at the game of 110,000 fans!

Guys,
It is very typical for all University Development groups to go back a few years and start counting then. They have a "quiet phase" when the planning takes place and the counting starts. Baylor is not doing anything different from what other schools do.

It is also very typical for every school to have a large number of pledges in their hip pocket so that they can be announced when the campaign goes live and a lot of buzz can be created. About 50% of the total is normal to have for momentum.

We should want the school to succeed rather than tear it down. The school needs to grow its endowment and hopefully everyone can make a contribution of some amount. Its necessary for Baylor to continue to improve.

Captain Spooge said:

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Guys,
It is very typical for all University Development groups to go back a few years and start counting then. They have a "quiet phase" when the planning takes place and the counting starts. Baylor is not doing anything different from what other schools do.

It is also very typical for every school to have a large number of pledges in their hip pocket so that they can be announced when the campaign goes live and a lot of buzz can be created. About 50% of the total is normal to have for momentum.

We should want the school to succeed rather than tear it down. The school needs to grow its endowment and hopefully everyone can make a contribution of some amount. Its necessary for Baylor to continue to improve.

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I do agree that without a doubt Baylor has created a lot of buzz. I wish Baylor the best of luck going forward. I hope they are able to right the ship.

As far as the ethics of strategies like this, I remember hearing something about bearing false witness. But institutionally, that standard appears to have been abandoned a little while back. Good luck to the fundraisers; fewer phones seem to get answered when they call than they are probably used to though.