A Year in Review

For our fiscal year end, June 30, 2005, the University of Colorado and the University of Colorado Foundation had great cause for celebration: a 4.5 percent increase in gifts from last year, thanks to the phenomenal fundraising efforts of volunteers, university leaders and staff in the final quarter.

Because of your support, thousands of students are benefiting from scholarships and fellowships, dozens of faculty members are holding newly endowed chairs, and the University can continue to fulfill its mission of providing innovative and high-ranking educational programs.

Thanks to all of you, the University received more than $83 million in gifts and pledges during fiscal year 2005 – up more than $3 million from the previous year. CU also received $21.2 million in revocable bequests and conditional pledges, up significantly from $6.4 million the year before. Gifts from alumni and other individuals increased by 32 percent and included 8,400 new donors. Meanwhile, we remain consistent in that more than 97 percent of the gifts received were designated to support specific causes such as student scholarships, faculty positions, pioneering research programs, cutting-edge laboratory equipment, and many other purposes.

The challenges of the past two years to the University and to the Foundation and the impact of the controversies have been far-reaching and continue to influence our activities. As much of this attention has been well chronicled, we will simply say that the Foundation’s volunteers and staff remain committed to ensuring that the Foundation meets all of its obligations and challenges openly and directly. We continue to seek ways to improve our operations, transparency and communications, learning all the while from our experiences but never wavering from our mission to support the University.

The fundraising success we have achieved this year is the greatest testament possible to your belief and confidence in us, and we are enormously appreciative of your trust and support. We invite you to visit our web site, www.cufund.org, for information about our activities, giving programs, and progress.We have also made it easier than ever to donate online through our secure server.

According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, “a vast majority of U.S. donors are increasingly going online to study causes they care about before making a giving decision… and 8.6 million households contributed more than $3 billion online in 2004, an increase of more than 50 percent from the 2003 estimates.”

Charitable giving comes from a passion and knowledge that your investment can – and does – make a difference. Your spirit of generosity has an enormous effect on the future of the University of Colorado and will continue to positively impact many generations to come.

Back | Next