As Purdue University and Purdue Agriculture celebrate the successful conclusion to the seven-year Campaign for Purdue, it seems appropriate to take a moment to look back on what we have accomplished together and to look forward to the future of Purdue Agriculture.

The focus on the three key elements of the campaign — learning, discovery and engagement — resulted in a significant impact on Purdue Agriculture. This campaign was a wonderful success by any measure, accomplished only because of your willingness to, as former president Martin C. Jischke often said, “pay forward” so the next generation of Boilermakers can enjoy expanded opportunities in the future.

So where do we go from here? Our plan is to focus our efforts on graduate student support, study abroad scholarships, endowments for faculty, and updates to many facilities. You may have ideas of your own, and we would be happy to discuss those with you at any time.

As you consider your year-end charitable contributions, please remember there are many options for giving to support Purdue Agriculture.

One unique opportunity to make a charitable contribution using an existing IRA will expire on Dec. 31. The IRA Charitable Rollover provision allows a donor who has reached the age of 70½ to make up to a $100,000 gift from a traditional or Roth IRA without penalty or tax.

Last year a number of friends found the rollover provision to be a useful means to accelerate pledge payments or make special outright gifts. There are specific restrictions on this type of gift, so if this is of interest to you, please contact our office for a helpful publication that describes the IRA Charitable Giving opportunity.

As the end of the year approaches and you contemplate your charitable giving options, remember that the development team in Purdue Agriculture is ready to assist you in any way. Feel free to contact our office at (800) 718-0094 or e-mail agdevelopment@purdue.edu and we’ll be happy to answer your questions and discuss your interest in supporting our college and university.

Thank you for your generosity.

Contact Irvin at mirvin1@purdue.edu