The University of Vermont Foundation recently announced a record-setting year of fundraising activities on behalf of the university during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015. With new fundraising commitments breaking the $60 million mark for the first time in UVM history – reaching $60,576,278 – the Foundation surpassed last year’s historic milestones by more than $5 million. Members of the Foundation’s Academic Health Sciences unit at the College of Medicine played a major role in attaining this goal, earning a total of $12,386,324 in commitments and receipts from donors.
Commitments include new gifts, new pledges, and new bequests documented during the year. The College of Medicine received a total of $4,889,706 in new gifts, $2,163,419 in new pledges, and $5,333,199 in new bequests. In addition, a total of 32 percent of College of Medicine alumni participated in annual giving in FY2015.
College of Medicine FY2015 Giving Highlights
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Student Fellowship Endowment: Founded in 1956, the fellowship is one of the oldest continuously running programs of its kind in the country. Fellows take one year between their second and third years of medical school to learn about all aspects of pathology through working with physicians and residents at UVM Medical Center. This endowment will help the program continue to serve medical students well into the future. More than $540,000 has been raised to date, and, under the leadership of Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Debra Leonard, M.D., Ph.D., departmental faculty agreed to dedicate $250,000 in reserve funds to the fellowship in FY2015.
Upton Family Scholarship: Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Michael Upton, M.D.’94, and members of his family – which includes four generations of UVM College of Medicine graduates dating back to the 1890s – established this scholarship to help support the education of future Vermont medical students through gifts totaling $200,000 in FY2015.
Vermont Lung Center Endowment: John Ouellette, M.D.’60 and Sally Ouellette established the Vermont Lung Center’s first endowment to support an annual lecture, which will bring nationally renowned respiratory and allergy specialists to campus to present on key topics and interact with our team of investigators.
Paulina P. Cain Endowment: To honor his mother, Paul Cain, M.D.’81 and Kathryn Cain established the first-ever endowment to support the Steps to Wellness Program at the UVM Cancer Center, a unique rehabilitation program designed specifically for oncology patients at a critical time in their recovery.
2015 Match Challenge: The Medical Alumni Executive Committee (AEC) held the first-ever “Match Challenge” fundraising campaign from March 1 through 20 in conjunction with Match Day on March 20, 2015. The effort raised more than $100,000 from over 500 donors for the College of Medicine Fund – setting a record for the highest number of donors for the College of Medicine in the month of March. Sponsored by the AEC and several past AEC presidents, the campaign far exceeded its original goal of 112 donations in honor of the 112 members of the College of Medicine’s Class of 2015, which the AEC group pledged to reward with an additional $12,500 donation to the College of Medicine Fund. The original campaign goal was surpassed eight days early, on March 12. Link to the Match Day Challenge campaign video here.
Read more about the UVM Foundation’s FY2015 fundraising milestones here.
(Information for this article was adapted from a news release written by Jay Goyette of the UVM Foundation.)