The University of Vermont Foundation announced today that private gift commitments for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, totaled $45,067,395, the best fundraising production in university history. Officials at the foundation, which began operations in January of this year, say the fiscal year-end results bode well for UVM’s fundraising future.

UVM Foundation president and chief executive officer Richard Bundy says the best news is in what the foundation tracks as “total production,” which includes not just new cash receipts but also indicators of future giving, like new pledges and new bequest provisions. While cash receipts, at $21.7 million, were down from last year’s high water mark of $29 million, the total production figure of more than $45 million soared above the $20.4 million reported in FY2011, an increase of 121 percent.

“Growth in new commitments like we saw this year will translate into very healthy growth in receipts in the years ahead,” Bundy said. “We are incredibly grateful to the more than 20,000 donors this year whose vote of confidence in UVM will have a lasting impact on our academic programs and the overall student experience.”

UVM’s strong fundraising comes at a time when philanthropic giving has been stagnant nationally. According to Giving USA, the annual yearbook of American philanthropy, charitable giving in America barely grew in 2011 for the second year in a row, rising just 0.9 percent. Giving to educational institutions edged up by only that same 0.9 percent.

Donors to UVM in FY2012 committed $8.5 million for student scholarships in all of the university’s schools and colleges, including a $1 million gift in support of scholarships from UVM Foundation board member Don McCree, UVM class of 1983, and his wife, Gabrielle. Donors also committed $1 million to fund student internships and fellowships administered through the Honors College. Another $6.9 million was contributed to support faculty endowments, including five new chairs and professorships in fields as diverse as electrical engineering, political science and pathology. The $13.5 million UVM Alumni House renovation project received $1.3 million in new commitments, including a half-million-dollar pledge from alumni William Davis ’71 and his father, Robert Davis ’41, to name the ballroom of the historic Summit Street building.

“This is an amazingly successful year and a remarkable beginning for the University of Vermont Foundation,” said interim President A. John Bramley. “We are tremendously grateful to all of our donors for their generous support of the University of Vermont. These very generous gifts are an expression of both the success we have achieved and the confidence people have in the university’s future.”

PUBLISHED

07-09-2012
Jay Goyette