Engaging Donor Conversations: Understanding Illinois Promise and Illinois Commitment

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As fundraisers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, you play a vital role in connecting our mission with the resources to make it possible. Two cornerstone programs—Illinois Promise and Illinois Commitment—ensure that financial barriers do not hinder talented students from pursuing a world-class education. To maximize your impact, it’s essential to understand the unique strengths of each program and the opportunities they offer for donor engagement.

What these programs achieve

Both Illinois Promise and Illinois Commitment address the financial needs of Illinois residents, ensuring affordability and access to Illinois. Each program complements the other, expanding our ability to meet students where they are and tailor support to their unique circumstances.

Program breakdown

Quick data points

In FY24 campus-wide:
$538.5M: total undergraduate student aid awarded, with $100M in unmet need
$177.3M in scholarships and grants were provided by colleges/departments
54% of undergraduate students received some form of gift aid
Illinois Promise and Illinois Commitment combined cost nearly $30M with $29M coming from institutional dollars and $955K coming from donor funds
In FY24, Illinois Promise:
1,313 total students; 69% of I-Promise Scholars identified as first-gen
All undergraduate college/schools represented
$10,681: average I-Promise award per student
$13,255,574:  total I-Promise funding awarded
In FY24, Illinois Commitment:
93 out of 102 Illinois counties represented
All undergraduate college/schools represented
123 different majors represented
$16,743,888: total Illinois Commitment funding awarded

Key differences to communicate to donors

Total Cost of Attendance and Comprehensive Support vs. Partial Support:
Illinois Promise goes beyond tuition, covering living expenses and providing hands-on academic and social support to students with the greatest financial need.
Illinois Commitment provides only tuition and fees, broadening eligibility to include students with moderate financial constraints.
Student Experience:
Donors to Illinois Promise directly invest in the holistic success of students via scholarships, with academic and social support and community-building programs funded by campus.
Donors to Illinois Commitment enable greater access for students across a wider range of financial situations.

Fundraising opportunities

Targeted Engagement:
Engage corporations, foundations, and alumni who want to make the broadest impact on scholarships at the campus level.
Ideal donors are those who value access to an Illinois education for all.
Key Talking Points:
Highlight the comprehensive support offered by Illinois Promise to appeal to donors focused on student success.
Emphasize Illinois Commitment’s impact on broadening access to higher education, appealing to donors interested in expanding reach and opportunity.
Neither of these programs are capped, and costs will continue to grow as tuition increases and more students qualify. Donor support to these funds will always be critical to keep Illinois accessible to all.
Fewer Restrictions Mean Greater Impact:
Gifts to scholarship programs at the campus level have the most impact when they are the most unrestricted. Donors to these programs are not matched 1:1 with individual recipients.
Endowment funds are critical to providing lasting support. Named endowment funds can be created for both Illinois Promise and Illinois Commitment, but ideally should not add additional criteria for eligibility.
Current use gifts can also be made to both programs, and provide essential immediate impact to students at Illinois.
Storytelling and Impact:
With recent changes to the FAFSA, recipients of Illinois Promise and Illinois Commitment cannot be identified to advancement staff or donors. Gift Officers should be familiar with the eligibility details and programmatic differences of these campus-level programs and share success stories from students who have thrived at Illinois due to all forms of scholarship support to inspire donor generosity and commitment.
Past Illinois Promise marketing materials include the Annual Report, which includes programmatic narrative and data, and With Gratitude, which focuses on the student voice.
Past Illinois Commitment marketing materials include an Illinois Storytellers feature and video on Nariah Romero-Rudy and Scholarship Stories on students Angelo Perez and Kristina Serrano.

Your role as advocates

Every conversation you have with prospective donors is an opportunity to align their values with the transformative power of these programs. By understanding the nuances of Illinois Promise and Illinois Commitment, you can craft compelling cases for support that resonate with each donor’s priorities.

Together, we can ensure that financial constraints never limit a student’s potential. Let’s continue to open doors and change lives—one gift at a time.

Questions or need further details? Reach out to Justin Brauer at OVCIA.