California’s 109 community colleges, which rarely receive big gifts, are embarking on a search for large donations from businesses, foundations, and alumni, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Officials at community colleges throughout the state say they must seek donations much more aggressively because their enrollments are expanding faster than the amount they receive from the state government.

“It [used to be] a very mom-and-pop operation,” said Paul Lanning of the Foundation for California Community Colleges, which works for all 109 community colleges and has hired a trained fund-raising staff to kick off a $100-million campaign to build a scholarship endowment for community colleges.

The new effort to reach alumni and community members is paying off. While the state’s community colleges have a combined endowment of $266-million, only about $2.5 million each, colleges that have put an emphasis on private fund raising have seen their endowments grow rapidly.

City College of San Francisco is one example. The college used to raise money from its own faculty and staff members, but since a new foundation board was formed several years ago, the college’s endowment has grown from $1.3-million to $22.3-million, partly from donations like the $6.3-million from Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinko’s. The college is also planning a capital campaign.