For most institutions, the budget pain will get worse before it gets better--if it gets better. Budget constraints have become the norm in virtually every state. In prior recessions, advancement offices tended to view downturns as bumps in the road to be negotiated before returning to business as usual. But the current troubles could signal a permanent change that will require new ways of doing business. Public colleges and universities are responding to shifts in the economic landscape. Advancement offices are no exception. Institutions are founding new philanthropic foundations, strengthening those that already exist, and expanding donor bases. Some are aggressively building endowments for the first time. Advancement offices are trying to become more efficient. That can translate into adding or reducing staff, and it often means upgrading technology. With dwindling state support, are public universities becoming less public? It depends on whether one defines a public college or university primarily as an institution that receives public funds or as an institution whose fundamental mission is to serve the public--regardless of funding.