With only three weeks under her belt, fundraising specialist Donna Blakemore has fired up three new capital campaigns and has high hopes for the future of SF State.

Blakemore left her position as director of development at SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting jazz in the community, and became associate vice president for university development at SF State on Sept. 12th. She has also served as a director of development and alumni relations at three other California universities: Davis, Riverside and Santa Cruz.

“With her proven track record in both the nonprofit sector and in higher education, she will add another dimension of expertise that can help bring San Francisco State to new levels in fundraising and community support,” SF State’s Vice President for University Advancement Lee Blitch said in a press release.

So far, she says she is settling in quite nicely.

“Everything is going very well.” Blakemore said. “I see us really putting sophisticated, more professional programs to work and organizing the infrastructure of the university, short-term and long-term.”

She also noted that everybody in the university advancement program was positive, supportive and looking forward to reaching their goals.

The primary goal includes a jump-start of the overall fundraising program and increasing annual support by the university so that SF State can maintain its “state-of-the-art” buildings and grounds.

Blakemore said the department is in the process of hiring a number of people to fill currently vacant positions.

“We want to recruit people with the skills and talents we need right now to incorporate organization in the structure,” she said.

The Capital Campaigns, three new building projects, are under way and will expand and renovate the J. Paul Leonard Library, and help improve the Creative Arts building and the house academic project.

The J. Paul Leonard Library project will include increasing the floor space by 300,000 square feet, expanding the sixth floor, replacing the stairs and elevators, adding a reading/conservation room, and updating the computer systems.

Mostly California State University alumni and trustees fund these projects, but Blakemore was avid that students are encouraged to participate in campaign events and in donating gifts as well.

"All these projects are really exciting," she said.