Donations to The University up $8 million

Last year was a good year for donations to The University of Memphis.

For the 2008 fiscal year, $26.4 million was raised. Around $19 million was raised for UM Foundation in Academics, and around $8 million was raised for the Athletic department.

The numbers jumped from previous years. In 2006, around $19 million was raised in total - $12.5 million for to academics and almost $7 million for athletics. A year later, $25 million was raised with $13 million going to academics and a little over $7 million went to athletics.

Since fiscal year 2001, the number of donations has doubled from $13.2 million to $ 26.4 million.

"We have witnessed an increase in the number of donors," said Bobby Prince, assistant vice president of development. "We increased 36 percent (8,057 people to 10,962 people) since last year. We are very proud of that accomplishment."

Prince, who is new to his position, said he has noticed an increase in donations to academics. He also said the two departments are not in competition with each other.

"I think there are some donors who cross over (to both), but fundraising is donor driven," Prince said. "You are going to have some who only give to one. We know that one department builds upon another. Sometimes if a donor gives to athletics, we try to engage them in academics."

Athletics is also noticing an increase this year. The amount raised for athletics is divided into two parts. One is Annual Gift, or Tiger Scholarship Fund, which is a scholarship given to the more than 350 student athletes that covers tuition, housing, books and food, and the other is gift-in-kind.

"We set a record for the Tiger Scholarship Fund of over $6 million dollars," said Bill Lansden, associate athletic director external affairs. "We received around $1.6 million for the gift-in-kind, which is strictly material donations. It's a new record. We had a good year."

The Athletic Department also receives restricted gifts that are not reflected in these numbers. They go to specific programs, like baseball or volleyball. These numbers were not immediately available to The Daily Helmsman.

This year's $6 million Annual Gift was the highest raised in Conference-U.S.A. - by a million dollars, according to Kenneth Siegfried, assistant athletic director for development. He said that record is due to the basketball and football programs. He said he considers sports the "front porch of The University.

"It's the most visual," Siegfried said. "When a student is trying to make a decision as to what school to go to, they look at the athletics. What they see more than anything is how good the basketball team is or how good the football team is. Sports are all over the news."

Lansden also said the record numbers were due to football and basketball.

"It's because our football made it to the bowl game, and our football team made it to the national championship, without question," he said.

Their goals for next year are to raise $6.5 million and around 1.6 million for the gift-in-kind donations.

Prince said there is no limit for how much The U of M needs, especially with the state budget cuts. The best way to increase donations to The University of Memphis is to better connect with the Alumni.

"People give to organizations they believe in," Prince said. "We need to tell our story and further engage our alumni. If they feel more engaged they feel more inclined to give."

Anyone who wants to make a donation to The University of Memphis can go to www.memphis.edu/give or www.gotigerso.com/tsf.