BOULDER, Colo.—University of Colorado president Bruce Benson says the school will restructure its fundraising efforts because of declining public support and other financial challenges so it can compete with other major universities.
A new report recommended that fundraisers from the University of Colorado Foundation, a separate nonprofit group, should become employees of the university to ensure more accountability.
The CU Foundation reported raising $229 million last year. Benson wants to raise at least $300 million to compete with other schools, including UCLA, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Washington and Ohio State.
The past 10 years have seen a major decline in state funding for CU, from about $223 million in 2003 to $145 million in the current fiscal year. Projections in some economic studies have funding for higher education running dry within 10 years.
A nine-month review by a consulting firm found that CU lags behind its peers when it comes to getting financial help from its 372,608 alumni, even though the school has a comparable pool of wealthy potential donors.
“The real cultivation is going out and finding people that don’t know they love you yet,” Benson said. “Then you show them why they should.”
Benson said he will make nearly 140 foundation fundraisers CU employees by July 1.
According to the Denver Post ( ), CU averages annual gifts of $58 per graduate, compared with $138 for 10 comparable institutions.
Nearly 15 percent of CU’s alumni are believed to have a net worth of $750,000 or more, but only 4.6 percent of CU’s alumni gave gifts of $10,000 or more, compared with 7.6 percent for the other schools.
Rick Lawrence, the president and CEO of the CU Foundation, said having fundraisers working directly with the university will create a better opportunity to tell CU’s story to potential donors.
“It’s something you have to do to create more alumni participation. You don’t get real great return on the buck right away, but you do down the road,” Benson said.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
