Arizona State University Foundation
Campaign ASU 2020: Together, Our Potential Is Limitless
The Challenge
Access as excellence—and no playbook for it.
Arizona State University had reinvented the public research university around a radical premise: measuring excellence not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed. That philosophy made ASU the nation’s most innovative university. But it left the ASU Foundation facing a comprehensive campaign with no philanthropic precedent—because the entire tradition of university fundraising was built on the opposite argument.
What we faced:
- Philanthropic argument inverted—access, not exclusivity, as the institution’s claim to excellence
- No regional giving culture—Arizona lacked the generational university philanthropy traditions of the Northeast or California
- $1.5 billion goal—the most ambitious campaign in ASU history, requiring a new donor base, not just a larger one
- Six investment pillars—from student success to Sun Devil Athletics, unified under one narrative
$1.5B
campaign goal
$2.38B+
Raised (158% above goal)
360,000
total donors
6
investment pillars
8 Years
campaign duration
Setting the Stage
The Starting Point
Arizona State University had spent a decade defying conventional wisdom about what a public research university could become. Under President Michael Crow’s leadership, ASU had rejected the false choice between access and excellence—growing to serve more than 80,000 students across four campuses while aspiring to become one of the nation’s most innovative universities.
But translating that reinvention into philanthropic language posed a fundamental challenge. The traditional playbook for university capital campaign consulting relied on exclusivity as a selling point: selectivity as proof of quality. ASU’s model inverted that logic entirely.
The ASU Foundation recognized that launching its most ambitious comprehensive campaign—a $1.5 billion effort—would require more than polished materials. It would require a new philanthropic argument altogether, one that positioned radical inclusion as a higher form of excellence rather than a compromise of it.
Compounding the challenge: Arizona lacked the generational giving traditions of long-established regions. Many prospective donors had no family history of university philanthropy. The campaign would need to build a culture of giving while simultaneously asking for transformational gifts. Foster Avenue was engaged as higher education fundraising consultants to develop the messaging architecture and creative platform that would make both possible.
The Strategic Work
Strategic Discoveries
Inclusion Was the Philanthropic Argument, Not an Obstacle to It
The traditional case for university giving depends on prestige through exclusivity. Discovery revealed that ASU’s access model—when framed as a bold institutional choice rather than a default—was actually more compelling to donors than selectivity. The Foundation didn’t need to apologize for inclusion; it needed to claim it as the higher ambition.
ASU's Culture Was Communal, Not Competitive
Unlike institutions built on individual achievement and internal competition, ASU had cultivated a collective ethos. Donors, faculty, and students shared a belief that group effort could accomplish what no individual action could match. This cultural insight became the foundation for the campaign theme—pointing toward “Together” before the word was ever chosen.
The Campaign Needed to Create Donors, Not Just Solicit Them
With limited generational giving traditions in Arizona, the campaign couldn’t rely on converting existing philanthropic habits. It needed to build a culture of university giving from the ground up—requiring messaging that invited first-time donors into the story while preserving the ambition that major gift prospects expected.
Our Approach
The Creative Work
Foster Avenue was engaged in December 2014, as Campaign ASU 2020 prepared to transition from its quiet phase toward public launch. The scope encompassed the full arc of campaign communications development: Discovery, Communications Plan, Brand Platform, and Creative Platform.
The discovery phase involved intensive synthesis of existing research, stakeholder perspectives, and competitive positioning. Rather than conducting redundant interviews, Foster Avenue worked from the Foundation’s existing intelligence—extracting the strategic insights that would inform the campaign rationale while respecting the institution’s investment in prior groundwork. This principal-led engagement ensured that every strategic recommendation came from senior counsel, not a rotating account team.
The collaboration emphasized integration over handoff. Foster Avenue principals worked directly with Foundation leadership throughout the engagement, presenting concepts for real-time feedback and refinement rather than delivering finished products for approval. The result was a messaging architecture that reflected authentic institutional voice rather than consultant-imposed language.
Engagement Highlights
Discovery & Research Synthesis
Strategic analysis of existing stakeholder research and competitive landscape
Communications Plan
Messaging architecture defining campaign voice, donor typology, and pillar integration
Brand Platform
Core messages, campaign theme, positioning statement, and “Why ASU?” framework
Creative Platform
Campaign identity, logo, visual standards, and pillar case templates
The Work
Strategy Made Visible
Leadership Case for Support
The foundational campaign narrative document presented President Crow’s vision for the New American University and connected ASU’s radical reinvention to specific philanthropic opportunities. Built around the “Together, Our Potential Is Limitless” theme, it equipped gift officers with language that positioned inclusion as excellence—giving them a compelling answer to the question every prospect would ask: why give to a university that doesn’t select for prestige?
Six Pillar Case Statements
A modular system of six targeted case statements—Ensure Student Success, Enrich the Student Experience, Elevate the Academic Enterprise, Fuel Discovery and Innovation, Enrich Our Communities, and Enhance Sun Devil Athletics—each available in poster and extended formats. The system enabled personalized prospect packets while maintaining visual and narrative coherence under the master campaign theme, functioning as a scalable major gift proposal system.
Additional Deliverables
Campaign Communications Guide
A comprehensive messaging architecture document established the campaign’s voice, donor typology (Affinity, Cause, and Investment donors), the “Why ASU? Why Now? Why You?” framework, and detailed positioning for each of the six investment pillars. This internal guide ensured that every advancement officer and campus partner spoke with consistent, compelling language—the operational backbone of campaign fluency across ASU’s advancement operation.
Campaign Identity & Visual Standards
A complete brand standards guide established the campaign’s visual language: logo applications, Sun Devil maroon and gold palette, typography, photography guidelines, and templates for event materials, invitations, and acknowledgment pieces. The system ensured consistent presentation across all donor touchpoints throughout the eight-year campaign.
The Results
Lasting Impact
Campaign ASU 2020 didn’t just raise $2.3 billion—it built the philanthropic infrastructure for a university that had never had one.
A Culture of Giving, Built from Scratch
Before the campaign, ASU operated in a region without deep traditions of university philanthropy. The 360,000-donor result didn’t just exceed expectations—it created a donor base where one hadn’t previously existed, establishing giving as part of ASU’s institutional identity.
Organizational Fluency That Outlasted the Campaign
The “Together” theme and the “Why ASU? Why Now? Why You?” framework gave advancement officers, deans, and university leaders a shared vocabulary for philanthropic conversations. That language didn't expire when the campaign closed—it became the foundation for ASU’s ongoing advancement operations.
A Replicable Model for Public University Fundraising
ASU’s campaign proved that a public university built on access could compete philanthropically with the nation's most selective private institutions. The messaging architecture—positioning inclusion as a higher form of excellence—established a template that other public research universities have since studied.
Expanded Philanthropic Identity
The campaign transformed how ASU’s community understood its own potential. Faculty, staff, and alumni internalized the “Together” narrative, shifting the university's self-concept from a growing institution to a philanthropic force—a permanent change in institutional culture.
Let’s Talk About Your Campaign
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