Campaign Oregon was a major news story in the state of Oregon. As part of the communication strategy, we met with editorial boards from the Oregonian, Register-Guard and Statesman Journal in advance of the announcement. We also provided information under embargo to key news reporters to enable them to print stories in the Friday editions. On January 30, 2009, we held events in Eugene and Portland where broadcast media were given the opportunity to gather footage for their evening broadcasts. As you will see below, the strategy was successful and the messaging was positive.
Highlights include:
"In the world of higher education, the University of Oregon is a hot brand."
— Statesman Journal editorial
"The university is to be congratulated for aiming high (its goal was $600 million) and exceeding its expectations. As Oregon and many other universities around the nation have shown, raising this kind of money is a matter of planning thoroughly and working very hard for a long time."
— Oregonian editorial
"Donors do not give money to patch a university's deficiencies; they give so that a university can build on its strengths. It would be a terrible mistake for the Legislature to respond to the UO's fundraising success with a corresponding reduction in state support. Such a move would impair the UO's ability to raise private money. Instead, legislators should interpret private donors' faith in the value of an investment in the UO as evidence that the university has passed a market test and can deliver economic and social benefits that justify a strong state commitment."
— Register-Guard editorial
The end-of-campaign news release was picked up by many websites as a result of BusinessWire distribution. Sites included Yahoo Finance, Marketwatch, CNNMoney, NWCN.com, Morningstar, Yahoo News, Google News and others.
"I offer my sincere appreciation to all of you who contributed your time or financial resources to the campaign. The impact of your generosity will continue to grow on this campus for generations to come."
