With Colorado near the lowest in the nation for funding of public higher education, there is increased need to raise money from other sources, according to Martin Wood, vice chancellor, University Advancement.
Wood and Jaime McMullen Garcia, interim executive director for development, University Advancement, shared details of a July 1 reorganization of University of Colorado fundraising activities Wednesday during a monthly Chancellor’s Campus Forum.
Most employees of the former CU Foundation are now university staff members. They are charged with raising money in support of university strategic priorities of scholarships, capital construction, and various college-based initiatives. The CU Foundation remains as an entity, primarily to manage the university’s endowment and to process gifts.
The change was necessary, Wood said, as CU leaders recognized the need for additional funds from sources other than the State of Colorado.
“While the CU Foundation was highly effective, the challenge was that it is difficult to go back and forth between organizations,” Wood said. “The president felt that if we were in a singular organization, we could be more effective and efficient in what we do.”
With Colorado ranked 49th in the nation in funding for public higher education and CU receiving less than 5 five percent of its budget from the State of Colorado, there is increasing pressure to raise money to support university initiatives.
While many details of the changeover remain and will take several more months to complete, Wood said the guiding principle is to streamlining processes to make fundraisers more effective.
“I don’t want anybody to think the CU Foundation was not successful,” Wood said. “It was highly successful. It put us in the top 10 percent in the country. But because of the fact that we live in Colorado, which does not fund public higher education at a high rate. It puts an extra emphasis on the kind of focus we have to have around private support.”
Garcia highlighted the results of the Creating Futures Campaign which began in 2006 and will officially end in a few weeks. For UCCS, $48.7 million was raised, more than 8 percent more than the campaign goal. Of that $48 million, $10.4 million was donated to support student scholarships, $914,000 for athletics, $1.7 million for endowed faculty, and more than $17 million for buildings including the Osborne Center for Science and Engineering, Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences, Gallogly Events Center, Berger Hall and renovations to both Centennial Hall and Dwire Hall.
She also showed videos of donors to UCCS. In the videos, donors such as Ed and Mary Osborne and Jim and Karen Possehl spoke of their personal satisfaction in donating as well as complimenting UCCS faculty, staff and students.
To see a video of the forum produced by the Media Services Department, visit
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— Photos by Philip Denman
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