Iowa State announced a private philanthropic fundraising campaign with a goal of $800 million – its largest campaign in 150 years – in a ceremony in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union on Friday morning.

“Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose,” was publicly announced by President Gregory Geoffroy and a slew of other speakers. The ceremony was designed for university faculty and staff.

“Faculty and staff are essential to Iowa State, so it’s important they see it first,” Geoffroy said.

Centering on this idea, Gregory Palermo, professor of architecture and former president of the ISU Faculty Senate, urged the audience to give something back to education.

“It’s an opportunity to support the academic community,” Palermo said. Palermo said that faculty and staff members have the capability to give and contribute to the “margin of excellence” held at Iowa State.

The campaign began four years before Friday’s launch, said Ann Wilson, senior director of communications of the ISU Foundation, the university’s nonprofit fundraising organization.

“We like to have support to show,” Wilson said.

She said the total money raised thus far helps to increase and build momentum – and they have quite a bit. More than halfway to its 2010 deadline, the campaign has collected

$508 million.

However, Geoffroy said there was still much to be done to reach the goal.

“The next step is a lot of hard work,” said Geoffroy, adding that Friday night’s gala event for an estimated 950 donors and prospective supporters at the Hilton Coliseum was an important item on the agenda.

Donations have been split into four categories: student, faculty, program and facility support.

Student support, which provides merit and need-based scholarships, has collected

$158 million of its $235 million goal.

Faculty support, which aims at recruiting and maintaining world-class educators, has collected $110 million of its

$215 million goal.

Program support helps school programs and student opportunities and has earned $153 million of its $195 million goal.

Facility support creates and maintains campus buildings and has raised $87 million of its $155 million goal.