Ohio State's new fundraiser eyes $2.5B campaign

"No wallet is safe," Ohio State President Gordon Gee quipped as he accepted the job of running the country's largest campus.

Almost a year later, Gee's hand-picked fundraiser is preparing for the university's biggest-ever fund drive, to the tune of $2.5 billion.

The challenges are huge: a sluggish economy, a massive institution that has yet to define what it's raising money for, and a university record of failing to pitch a compelling story of itself.

Peter Weiler (WEYE'-ler), snapped up by Gee from a similar job at Penn State, said the campaign will nevertheless proceed.

"Waiting is not an option," Weiler told The Associated Press. "This university has been on the precipice of this campaign far too long."

Weiler, whose annual salary is $404,808, said Ohio State is guilty of not selling itself as strongly as it should, especially given the university's size and resources.

Ohio State has a statewide enrollment of about 59,000. It has 28,200 employees, including 3,000 faculty, a $3.7 billion budget and a $1.4 billion payroll.

"We haven't bragged about ourselves, quite honestly. It's been a little bit of the Midwestern, 'Aw shucks,'" Weiler said.

"This is an incredible institution doing remarkable things, and I don't think we've told that story," he said.

The last major fundraising campaign at Ohio State, "Affirm Thy Friendship," started under Gee's first tenure as president in the 1990s and raised $1.23 billion.

Ohio State will begin the new campaign in January when it quietly starts counting money behind the scenes.

The university will launch its official, public campaign _ with a dollar sign attached to it _ in 2011.

Setting goals for major fundraising campaigns is a delicate science, and one not usually done in public. But that's not the style of Gee, who raised a record $1.2 billion at his previous job at Vanderbilt and is known for his unabashed approach to raking in donations.

He brushed off criticism of a $6 million renovation of the president's house at Vanderbilt by pointing out that fundraising parties there helped the university reach that record figure. He's renovating the Ohio State residence in suburban Columbus for $2 million.

Gee brought up the $2.5 billion figure in October when he used the number in a speech to faculty.

By the way, that's a minimum: "and maybe more," Gee added at the time.

Gee said he considers the figure a stretch, not a challenge, but concedes it wasn't a popular decision.

"The folks internally probably had heartburn," he said.

Adding pressure for Weiler is that billionaire Les Wexner, an Ohio State trustee, called the goal "pretty realistic."

Wexner is chief executive and chairman of Limited Brands Inc.

Weiler has asked his boss to cool the talk about the figure lest it overshadows what he said is the bigger goal of the campaign.

"One (goal) is to raise money, but it also allows the institution to think big, think how it wants to transform itself _ that's what excites donors."