CU Posts Solid Fundraising Results Despite Recession

In time of increasing need, dollars down but donors up, indicating broad public support

DENVER—More than 50,000 donors made contributions toward University of Colorado people, places, and programs during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009—more than in any other year in CU’s 133-year history, the university announced today.

Gifts for the 2008-09 year totaled $134.5 million: $101.3 million given through the CU Foundation, the university’s fundraising arm, and $33.2 million given directly to the university, according to preliminary unaudited numbers. It ranked as the second-best year in CU history for dollars raised.

“Our donors provide essential support that helps CU provide outstanding education, research, and services to the citizens and communities of Colorado and beyond,” said CU President Bruce D. Benson. “Private support will be increasingly essential in the coming years as we deal with fiscal challenges in other revenue streams, and aim not merely to survive but to excel.”

Benson stressed that while fundraising dollars add value to CU, donors frequently target gifts toward specific areas of interest. Support for general operating expenses such as salaries, utilities and technology remains a great need.

The total dollar amount of gifts raised by the CU Foundation was down 18 percent from the record-breaking 2007-08 fiscal year (when CU raised more than $162.5 million), reflecting the pervasive economic difficulties that accelerated early last fall, and have affected university support everywhere.

The decline in dollars raised is most evident in the sharp drop in gifts at the highest ($10 million+) level, as steep equity-market declines put unprecedented pressure on large-gift sources. While 2008 saw three donors give more than $10 million each, no such gifts were received in 2009. Excluding such donations, dollars raised for CU in 2008-09 exceed last year’s total by more than 14 percent.

And donor activity was up, especially among alumni. This year’s total of 25,167 alumni donors represents year-over-year increases for all four CU campuses, and is CU’s greatest alumni-donor total ever by a margin of 9.8 percent.

Because of donors to CU’s campuses:

Law students will better connect classroom schooling with real-world clients in need thanks to a $5 million gift by Richard F. and Rick E. Schaden to the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law.
New vaccine development will be accelerated thanks to a $2 million gift by CU alumni Jack and Jeannie Thompson to help fund a new Biotechnology Building at CU-Boulder.
Scholarships will make college possible for students in need thanks to an anonymous $5.5 million gift to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs—UCCS’s largest, leading to an 83.4 percent year-over-year rise in gifts to the campus.
Rural citizens statewide will receive better health care thanks to a $3 million grant by Kaiser Permanente to UC Denver’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
A new UC Denver Business School building will get a boost thanks to EnCana’s $1 million gift toward the 1475 Lawrence Court building on the Downtown Denver campus.
“We are impressed and humbled by the steadfast support of our friends,” said CU Foundation President and CEO Wayne Hutchens. “With many traditional CU funding sources likely to be squeezed for years to come, next year will be pivotal for attracting more private support, and demonstrating how this support leads to positive change.”

The CU Foundation aims to increase fundraising next year to reduce the revenue gap and keep tuition affordable. Priority projects for which private support will be targeted include:

Scholarships, fellowships, and faculty chairs on all CU campuses
CU Boulder: A Systems Biotechnology Building, an interdisciplinary Energy Initiative, and a Center for Community slated for 2010 completion
UC Denver: A Cancer Center and Rural Health Initiative at the Anschutz Medical Campus; and buildings for the Business School and College of Architecture and Planning at the Downtown Campus
UCCS: Completion of a new events center, Institute for Bioenergetics, and Center for Aging

The university endowment, managed by the CU Foundation, saw silver linings despite a challenging year. As of June 30, 2009, the value of the CU endowment was $590.1 million, down 18 percent from 2008. (By comparison the S&P 500 declined 26.2 percent during the same period.) The CU Foundation’s investment-management performance (-17.7 percent for the year) surpassed the broad equity markets as well as foundation-specific benchmarks for the fifth consecutive year. A $100 investment in CU’s endowment on Sept. 30, 2004, would be worth $128 today, compared with $89 if invested in the S&P 500.

About the CU System
The University of Colorado is a three-campus system with four locations: the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the University of Colorado Denver’s Downtown Campus and Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. Nearly 54,000 undergraduate and graduate students are pursuing academic opportunities on CU campuses. CU is a premier teaching and research university, and is ranked sixth among public institutions in federal research expenditures by the National Science Foundation. Academic prestige is marked by the university’s four Nobel laureates, seven MacArthur “genius” Fellows, 18 alumni astronauts and 19 Rhodes Scholars. For more information, go to www.cu.edu.

About the CU Foundation
Founded in 1967, the nonprofit CU Foundation partners with the University of Colorado to raise, manage, and invest private support for the university’s benefit. Our donors help the university transform lives through education, research, clinical care, and community engagement. Visit www.cufund.org for more information.

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