KTKA

Emporia State University Foundation employees have been making a lot of thank you calls. That's because despite a depressing economic outlook, they've managed to increase fundraising.

"We had donors that stepped up to the plate. My fundraising staff is great, they're small but mighty," said Judy Heasley, ESU Foundation president.

So how did they do it?

"We are very strategic. We plan and coordinate all fundraising through this office so that deans, all the administrators, everyone knows that the fundraising and all the coordination and planning comes here, so that we're not shooting ourselves in the foot," said Heasley.

She says when the markets tumbled, along with their invested funds, staff hit the phones.

"Every donor that we could reach, every fund contact was called by one of my people and I made calls myself. Asking if they were able to give to help us out on our scholarships, could they, and people stepped up to the plate," said Heasley.

The $6.9 million raised will fund many campus programs, scholarships, and union renovations. Even the athletic fund raising goes through the ESU foundation. Associate athletic director Shane Shivley coordinates athletic fundraising-- which also had a banner year.

"Fundraising is one of those things that's never easy. It doesn't matter what the economy is like. Fundraising really ends up having to do with lining the right people up with the right project," said Shivley.

Judy and Shane both say recent cuts to higher education mean the money is needed now more than ever.