Faculty, staff giving shines light on TSU, attracts donors

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University officials say faculty and staff giving is attractive to donors outside the institution.

When there’s strong financial support internally, donors are inclined even more to give because they see how much employees value where they work, said Greg Ketteman, prospect researcher with the TSU Foundation.

He said TSU’s College of Engineering recently reached 100 percent giving.

“Donors ask what the giving rate is for insiders and take that into consideration when making their own gift,” Ketteman said. “Being able to say that 100 percent of faculty and staff have given is a powerful statement when raising money from alumni, corporations, and foundations.”

Dr. S. Keith Hargrove, dean of the College of Engineering, agreed.

“The faculty and staff of the College of Engineering strongly support the leadership of the institution, its college, and more importantly, the students by their contribution to the TSU Foundation,” he said.

TSU student Brandi BeCoats said she appreciates the generosity from TSU’s faculty and staff.

“When people choose to give to the university, what that says to me is that the university is something that’s worth investing in,” said BeCoats, a junior from Nashville.

As of June 19, 2017, Ketteman said 159 TSU faculty and staff have made a donation to TSU, a 31 percent increase over last year. He said this year’s gifts from faculty and staff total $53,043, which is close to last year’s record of $53,565.

Department of Media Relations

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With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 25 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.