Record number of donors give $180 million to the University of Minnesota

What: U of M Foundation reports U-wide giving results for FY05
Contact: Martha Douglas, University of Minnesota Foundation, (612) 626-9712
Mark Cassutt, University News Service, (612) 624-8038

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 9/6/2005 ) --The number of donors making gifts to benefit the University of Minnesota reached a new high in fiscal year 2005, with 92,741 donors making gifts and pledges totaling $180 million. This includes a record 51,145 alumni donors, or 8 percent more alumni giving back to the university than in fiscal 2004.

"We have had a steady increase in the number of alumni donors in recent years, reflecting in part increased efforts to reach out to them and engage them in supporting the U," said Gerald Fischer, president and chief executive officer of the University of Minnesota Foundation. The University of Minnesota Foundation tracks and reports gifts to all U of M campuses, colleges and departments, including gifts made through other university foundations.

The $180 million is an increase of 24 percent in giving compared with fiscal 2004. It includes gifts made through the Minnesota Medical Foundation to the Medical School and the School of Public Health. The Minnesota Medical Foundation is reporting its highest annual fundraising total, as well as its highest number of donors, in 66 years.  

A particularly strong area of giving to the university was for student scholarships and fellowships. This area has been the university's top fund-raising priority since the close of Campaign Minnesota in July 2003 and the launch that same year of the Promise of Tomorrow Scholarship Drive. The number of donors giving to scholarships and fellowships has increased by 18 percent since the scholarship drive began and is more than twice what it was 10 years ago.  

"We are committed to increasing the amount of support available to our students in a variety of ways," said University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks. "We've made scholarships and student support the U's top private fundraising priority, and I have been gratified by the response we've received from alumni and friends."

An update on the progress of the scholarship drive will be announced later this month. October will once again be Scholarship Month on university campuses, to draw attention to the continuing need for student support.

The $180 million raised in fiscal 2005 includes cash gifts and pledges, as well as other future commitments such as bequests and trusts. Donors designate how they want their gifts to be used, with only about 2 percent each year being unrestricted. In fiscal 2005, a large percentage of the gifts were designated for endowment, which means that the funds are invested and increase over time, providing long-term funding for the designated programs.

 "Endowed faculty and research funds provide stability for long-term research, and endowed scholarships and fellowships create a cumulative benefit in the numbers of students we can support over time," Bruininks said. "A strong endowment will be key to achieving our aspiration to be among the top three public research universities in the world."

The University of Minnesota Foundation, founded in 1962, is an independent nonprofit organization that helps build the quality of the University of Minnesota by raising and managing gifts from alumni, friends and organizations. The foundation's assets totaled nearly $1.3 billion on June 30, 2005, including approximately $1 billion in endowment funds.

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