A letter from the President of the SMSU Foundation Board of Directors

Greetings SMSU Alumni, Friends, and Community Members!

Another fiscal year has passed and, for the SMSU Foundation, it proved to be successful and encouraging on many fronts. In addition, the University itself has emerged as a true leader within the Minnesota State University System, leading the way this past fall with more than a 5% increase in degree-seeking students and almost an 11% increase in new first-year students. These are envious numbers for most any university in today’s environment. Thanks to the generous and enduring support of alumni and friends of the University, the Foundation is pleased to be providing meaningful support for this tremendous success!

During fiscal year 2023, total support and revenues for the Foundation topped $8.6 million, an exciting 51% increase over the year before. Two major gifts that you have likely read about- one from North Star Mutual Insurance and the other from the estate of SMSU alumnus, Michael Bjerksett - provided a big boost to our fundraising success. But we continue to receive and greatly appreciate contributions both big and small. More than 2,400 alumni and friends made gifts to the Foundation during the year! The backbone of our ongoing success is the breadth of our donor base, and the continued expansion of this base is helping us to sustain our positive momentum.

As a board of directors, our commitment to donors and the University remains focused on four broad categories of investment in support of SMSU’s continuing success, including:

• Enhancing academic opportunities

• Enriching on-campus experiences and resources

• Expanding scholarship initiatives

• Growing the Southwest Fund and support for Mustang Athletics

We also take our stewardship responsibilities very seriously to assure maximum benefits are derived from our entire portfolio of assets, both financial and otherwise. To that end, the board recently revamped our committee structure to further enhance our focus on fiduciary responsibilities and identify opportunistic fundraising and investment approaches.

The summary on the following page shows the impact made through the SMSU Foundation last year. With your help, we were able to support many great initiatives on campus. While overall scholarship support was down last year due to some of our athletic teams working to rebuild their rosters and focus available funding on the future, we expect scholarship needs to increase in the years ahead.

On behalf of the entire Foundation Board of Directors, allow me to thank all of you as alumni, friends, and community partners for your spirited, ongoing support of SMSU. With your help, the Foundation can continue to do our part to help empower SMSU’s success. In the Mustang spirit, let’s continue to RUN TOGETHER and IMAGINE THE IMPACTS that we can make!

-Dave Werpy ’79 President of SMSU Foundation Board of Directors