CU System news release
A University of Colorado Eye Center preparing to double its patient capacity at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. An unprecedented endowment for a jazz studies program on the Boulder campus. A research and clinical hub for veterans coping with trauma-induced mental health issues on the Colorado Springs campus. An endowed lecture series at the Denver campus that will narrow the gap between high-tech advances and the public’s understanding of them.
These are among the nearly 2,500 programs that nearly 50,000 individuals, foundations and corporations supported this past year at the University of Colorado—which benefited from more than a quarter billion dollars in private support in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. That $258.8 million total exceeds the prior record, set in 2012, by 13 percent.
“Our continued success in fundraising is testament to the value our donors see in our university and its people," said CU President Bruce Benson. “Their ongoing commitment will be critical as we continue our work to move CU fundraising to the next level.”
About half these funds, or $128.8 million, were donated through the University of Colorado Foundation. Of that $128.8 million, $54 million was donated to the Anschutz Medical Campus, $49.8 million to the Boulder campus, $15.5 million to the Denver campus (CU Denver’s best fundraising year ever, for the second consecutive year), $7.7 million to the Colorado Springs campus and $1.8 million to the CU system.
Approximately $130 million in private support was given directly to the university and the CU Real Estate Foundation.
In addition, $31.8 million in future estate commitments were recorded by the CU Foundation this year, and the total pipeline of intended bequests to CU surpassed $200 million for the first time ever. Though not counted in the aforementioned fundraising totals, these commitments indicate a strong likely future flow of gifts that will benefit CU for generations to come.
“The strong recent support we’ve seen from donors reflects the outstanding education, research, outreach and health care throughout CU,” CU Foundation President and CEO Richard W. Lawrence said. “Private support will be increasingly important to CU, and we are grateful for the investments of our donors.”
Donors are creating futures at CU by supporting:
· Learning and Teaching at UCCS, where an anonymous donor made a $1.5 million estate commitment to endow a chair in East Asian history, enabling the campus to recruit its first full-time professor in this area
· Discovery and Innovation at CU Denver, where Jake Jabs made a $10 million gift toward entrepreneurship education—the largest gift in CU Denver history
· Community and Culture at CU-Boulder, where $880,000 in donor gifts over 18 months toward CU Teach—which mobilizes high-tech talent toward K-12 teaching careers—triggered an equal matching grant from the National Math and Science Initiative
· Health and Wellness at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, where families of two CU heart transplant recipients made major estate gifts to honor the outstanding medical care received by CU physicians
As of June 30, CU had raised more than 90 percent of its $1.5 billion goal for the comprehensive Creating Futures campaign, which began in 2006 and was announced publicly in 2011. Since Creating Futures began, endowments managed by the CU Foundation have increased 49 percent, from $590.3 million to $879.5 million.
As the significance of philanthropy and other private support to the University of Colorado continues to grow, the university has determined that development and related support operations should be formally integrated into the university structure rather than being managed through a separate nonprofit, the CU Foundation. CU’s development and related supporting operations are transferring to the university this summer.
The new structure is expected to better align university and fundraising personnel and priorities, President Benson said, as CU pursues higher fundraising goals for FY 2014 and priority initiatives that include: a major Athletics capital initiative at CU-Boulder, a scholarships campaign at CU Denver, the CU Cancer Center at the Anschutz Medical Campus, and a North Nevada Avenue expansion at UCCS.