A philanthropic arm of the College of Southern Idaho is shifting into high gear.

CSI Foundation leaders said a "major gifts campaign" is in the works for as soon as early next year. A goal is to collect $8 million to $9 million within 18 to 24 months.

This would be CSI's first large gifts campaign, said Curtis Eaton, the foundation's director.

"The largest segment of the campaign would be for augmentation of our scholarship endowments," Eaton said. The foundation put $710,000 toward scholarships last year, but officials would not say how much the foundation took in.

Some of the money raised could also be used for a higher education center to consolidate four-year programs on campus, he said.

The CSI board of trustees told Eaton Monday night to move forward with the fundraising campaign, which will be handled by a consulting company from Salt Lake City.

The consulting firm, Clements Group, L.C, sells methodologies that have helped technical colleges raise "half a billion dollars," according to the company's Web site. The company also sells seminars to college representatives about components of successful fundraising campaigns, its Web site shows.

In November the company did a fundraising feasibility study for the college, and "Their findings indicate the support is positive," Eaton said.

The study used surveys and interviews from about 80 people around the Magic Valley. People picked for interviews were asked questions about college support and fundraising and spoke for a segment of their community.

"Geography was very important," Eaton said.

A new $22 million health sciences building is set to break ground this spring and expand programs. The state paid for it, and architectural plans were unveiled this week. But the large fundraising campaign is not evolving "in tandem" with the new CSI building, Eaton said.

"One is not caused by the other," he said. "But they're related."

The foundation's campaign is part of an expanding fundraising effort. The college budgeted $33,000 this fiscal year to help support a fundraising campaign through a new CSI Foundation Support Department. The new department separates planning and development functions from duties of the foundation director - and the foundation funds its overhead, according to the college general fund budget.

Andrea Gates can be reached at 735-3380, or Andrea.Gates@lee.net.