The loss of Joe Paterno is threatening to ruin the most ambitious fundraising campaign in Penn State’s history, as the university races to rein in the mushrooming public relations nightmare.

The scandal, which comes in the midst of “For the Future,” a $2 billion capital fundraising campaign, is likely to have a devastating effect on the university’s ability to collect donations.

Until late this week, Paterno’s picture had been on the website asking for donations for the university. His image is also littered throughout the fundraising website — and he is even cited in one of the university’s landmark donations.

He’s clearly the spokesman and the face associated with the brand. This is more than a distraction. It will have a significant impact in how people perceive them. It will arguably have a significant impact on their ability to raise $2 billion.

Reuters reported on Friday that students were still making fundraising calls, but many events meant to raise cash had been cancelled for the weekend, including the President’s Tailgate before Saturday’s game against Nebraska.

Meanwhile, development officials appeared to be quickly trying to change the ambitious fundraising campaign from one that included the storied program and perhaps most beloved coach in football to one about the school as a whole — even if many have always seen it defined by the football program.

“The allegations surrounding Jerry Sandusky are shocking and horrifying. We cannot let the actions of one individual, nor the alleged inaction of a few others, tear down this great institution,” the Penn State alumni association wrote in a statement posted on its website.

“This is not a moment to reconsider our commitment to the University. I urge you to continue to support the campaign and the students whose lives will be transformed by your philanthropy,” Tombros wrote, Reuters reported.

Pete Martin, the fundraising consultant, said he would direct his team to be in touch immediately with the top 200 donors to stop anyone from pulling out an already-promised donation — and encourage them to continue making them.

“I think people are going to think twice about gifts they’ve already made, gifts they’ve pledged or if they considering a donation, ” he said.

Luckily for the Nittany Lions, some donors offered their immediate assurance. In a statement, Terry Pegula, who has donated $88 million to his alma mater, said he was “encouraged to see the University trustees have begun the process of restoring integrity and trust in the institution.”

“Our own support for Penn State and its program will continue, ” he said. “We expect the University will carry out its educational mission with high standards and integrity.”

Martin said that ’s exactly what the university ’s fundraising staff should be emphasizing — and would be in touch to remind donors why they gave.

Did they give it because of Joe Paterno? Or did they give it because they value Penn State as an institution?

Here is more proof today in the news that whether you are a nonprofit, a large corporation, a small business, or even an ecommerce business, funding is an integral part to your operations. WikiLeaks has made news several times over the years making a name for itself by publishing and commenting on leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct.

Julian Assange announced today at a press conference in the British capital, that it would suspend the publication of secrets to focus on raising funds to continue operations.

Speaking today, Assange told reporters that Wikileaks must “continue to fight the blockade” imposed by major U.S. banks.

The Wikileaks founder introduced the event in front of a backdrop of Visa, Bank of America, Mastercard and PayPal logos displayed upside down.

The ‘financial blockade’, which began in December 2010, only ten days after the initial release of the U.S. diplomatic cables, caused Wikileaks to lose 95 percent of its revenue, Assange said, adding that the organization has been running on cash reserves for the past 11 months.

In a statement, Wikileaks said: “In order to ensure our future survival, Wikileaks is now forced to temporarily suspend its publishing operations and aggressively fund-raise in order to fight back against this blockade and its proponents”.

“The U.S. government itself found that there were no lawful grounds to add Wikileaks to a U.S. financial blockade. But the blockade of Wikileaks by politicized U.S. finance companies continues regardless”, he added.

Wikileaks’ financial troubles began after the ‘Cablegate’ releases, where the organization published tens of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables from embassies around the world. As the largest leak of classified material in U.S. history, many organizations Wikileaks had used restricted or denied the self-styled media organization from its services.

This led to Anonymous, the hacktivist group associated with public message boards and forums, to backlash against the companies with denial-of-service attacks.

PayPal, Visa and other major U.S. banks aside, other technology companies like Amazon had pulled the plug on Wikileaks, claiming reasons such as breaking terms of service, to avoid potential conflicts of interest whilst operating under U.S. law.

In September, after a row with the Guardian newspaper, which led to a password being published in a book by a Guardian journalist, Wikileaks published the full unredacted cables from the Cablegate files.

Wikileaks began pre-litigation action against the financial blockade in Iceland, Denmark, the UK, in Brussels, the United States and Australia.

Assange is currently fighting extradition at appeal level as he remains on bail. His appeal outcome is expected in the coming weeks, which may lead to his prosecution in the United States.

from zdnet.com