CU System news release
DENVER鈥擴niversity of Colorado President Bruce Benson has announced the completion of CU鈥檚 fourth fundraising campaign,听Creating Futures, with more than $1.521 billion in private support raised to support people, places and programs on CU鈥檚 four campuses.
Propelling CU to campaign success were more than 158,000 donors who made more than 403,000 gifts to CU from the official July 1, 2006, start of听Creating Futures听through Sept. 30, 2013, when campaign counting concluded.听Creating Futures听has generated more private support for CU than any other campaign in the university鈥檚 137-year history.
鈥淒onors have made CU a better place for students, faculty, alumni and friends,鈥� said Benson (鈥�64), who with his wife, Marcy, served as chair of the campaign. 鈥淭oday, we celebrate the success of the听Creating Futures听campaign and say 鈥榯hank you鈥� to all the donors who have fueled that success.鈥�
CU has benefited from transformative support during the campaign from donors including:
鈥⑻� More than $57 million in gifts since 2006 (and more than $130 million lifetime) from the Anschutz Foundation鈥攖he campaign鈥檚 largest donor鈥攖hat fueled substantial growth of the CU Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. These Anschutz Foundation gifts comprised a healthy proportion of more than $132 million given toward land and buildings during听Creating Futures.
鈥⑻� A $10 million commitment from Jake Jabs that enables the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship at the CU Denver Business School to vastly increase the scope of its Business Plan competition and related entrepreneurship programs. Jabs鈥� gift was a portion of more than $364 million in support from individuals during听Creating Futures.
鈥⑻� More than $45 million in gifts toward biotechnology research and building support at CU-Boulder, whose new BioFrontiers Institute harnesses an interdisciplinary academic dream team to tackle big challenges in areas such as human health.
鈥⑻� $5.5 million from an anonymous donor to support scholarships at UCCS, the largest cash gift in that campus鈥檚 history, and part of more than $101 million in gifts toward scholarships and financial aid during the campaign.
Also during the听Creating Futures听campaign, more than $240 million was given toward endowments that support CU with perpetual funding streams for generations to come. As of Sept. 30, CU held $937.4 million in endowments鈥攁 57 percent increase since the start of the campaign.
鈥淭丑谤辞耻驳丑辞耻迟听Creating Futures, it has been an honor to work with my volunteer peers who have worked to serve this great university and inspire donor support,鈥� said Carl (鈥淪pike鈥�) Eklund (鈥�71), chair of the board of directors. 鈥淭he University of Colorado is an integral contributor to the health and welfare of citizens throughout and beyond this state. Today, we celebrate its fundamental role as a core Colorado institution.鈥�
In addition to the campaign leadership of Marcy and Bruce Benson, CU鈥檚 four campuses each benefited from outstanding volunteer campaign leadership on each campus, including Jean (鈥�64) and Jack (鈥�64, 鈥�70) Thompson at CU-Boulder, Nancy 鈥淣an鈥� (鈥�87) and Carl 鈥淪pike鈥� Eklund (鈥�71) on the Anschutz Medical Campus, Laura (鈥�94) and Dave (鈥�82) Baker on the CU Denver campus, and Mary and Ed Osborne on the UCCS campus. Additionally, many volunteers served on campus campaign committees.
Though it coincided with the worst economic downturn in 75 years, the strong private support seen during听Creating Futures听represents a formidable vote of confidence by alumni, friends, corporations, and foundations toward the University of Colorado.
But with continuing threats to state funding for the university and escalating needs in areas ranging from financial aid to physical infrastructure, increased fundraising will be a critical and continuing imperative for CU. To this end, the university recently revamped its advancement operations to more directly align its fundraising structure with the university.
鈥淎s long as society has burning questions that remain to be answered, new frontiers that remain to be explored, we must continue to push hard for greater capacity in everything we do,鈥� said CU鈥檚 Vice President of Advancement Kelly Cronin, who came to the university in September. 鈥淭oday we celebrate the passions of our donors and the efforts of our faculty and staff, and look ahead to a future in which generous donors continue to better equip CU to educate, innovate, and foster positive change.鈥�
Contact: Ken McConnellogue, 303-860-5626,听ken.mcconnellogue@cu.edu
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