In the first month of the semester, Iowa State has witnessed multiple groundbreaking and record donations at an astounding clip.

From a $7 million donation to expand the Gerdin Business Building, to a $14 million donation to build a new feed and mill research facility, to a $50 million donation toward the College of Business that will rename the college, to a newly redefined $145 million donation to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences the progress has been substantial.

Larissa Holtmyer Jones, president and CEO of the Iowa State Foundation, said that this rate of large donations hasn’t happened in her 20-plus years at Iowa State.

The $50 million donation toward the College of Business by the Ivy family is resulting in the renaming of the college to the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business.

For the $14 million donation going toward a new grain and feed mill research facility, the Kent Corporation and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board each committed the largest amount they’ve donated, $8 million and $4 million respectively.

“It’s unusual and fortunate that these gifts have come together and happened as they have,” Holtmyer Jones said. 

Donations of such proportion aren’t taken lightly, and these decisions aren’t made overnight.

“The donors who gift these donations don’t make the decision to commit so much lightly,” Holtmyer Jones said.

The process of getting a gift, especially when it’s a large amount for the donor, isn’t short. Sometimes these can take multiple years, and Holtmyer Jones said they don’t often take less than a year at minimum.

These donation come as a part of the Forever True, For Iowa State campaign. The campaign kicked off publicly in the fall of 2016, but had been raising money since 2012.

The goal of the campaign is to raise $1.1 billion by June 2020, and they are currently just over $840 million dollars. There is still over $250 million to go.

Each donation that is given in the current period contributes to the campaign goal. Forever True, For Iowa State is split into three aspirations:

— Ensure access to an exceptional student experience that offers practical, global and leadership opportunities that shape the well-rounded citizens and informed critical thinkers needed in the 21st century.

— Advance Iowa State as a world leader in addressing global challenges affecting our food, water, energy, health, security and environment.

— Accelerate Iowa State’s contributions to the social good by extending its expertise, knowledge and values to improve quality of life within our state and throughout the nation and world.

These three goals map what and where the donations come from.

With the large donations that have occurred early in the semester, it can take some of the focus away from what happens day-to-day in fundraising at Iowa State.

“As thrilled as we are about the substantial gifts we’ve received this school year, it’s about building a base for the future,” Holtmyer Jones said. “The collective action is what’s important.”