Donors surpass half a billion dollars in giving to CU

Donors invested generously in CU last fiscal year, giving more than $522 million to mark the second-highest fundraising year in university history and only the second time CU has surpassed a half-billion dollars in philanthropy.

More than 46,000 donors contributed more than 78,000 gifts – both records for CU – across the university’s four campuses to support a broad array of initiatives heading into CU’s 150th anniversary next year. These priorities include student success and scholarships, groundbreaking research and discovery, vibrant arts and culture programs, talented faculty and transformative medicine and health care.

“We are tremendously grateful for our donors’ generosity and passion. Their gifts are among our most important sources of support and help strengthen every part of our university community,” said Todd Saliman, University of Colorado President. “These gifts ensure our students, faculty and broader community in Colorado and beyond can benefit from the impact and value that CU provides.”

Last year, the $522 million total included:

• $161 million to help unearth new discoveries through research
• $157 million to drive various academic priorities, including health care
• $63 million to support students with scholarships and fellowships
• $40 million to attract and retain bright faculty and researchers

When donors give, they signal their passion for what’s personally meaningful to them at CU. That support is especially critical during a year in which challenges to state and federal budgets impact higher education. Importantly, donor philanthropy is directed where donors intend their gifts to go, and CU cannot redirect dollars elsewhere to cover funding shortfalls in other areas.  

Last year, donors from all walks of life – alumni, friends, parents, students, staff, faculty, foundations and corporations – gave to improve lives in their local communities, across Colorado and around the world.

While donors from all backgrounds matter, so do gifts of every size: Gifts of $2,500 or less accounted for approximately 93% of all gifts, showing a broad base of support for CU. Donors also made transformational investments across all campuses, including two gifts of more than $15 million each and 104 gifts of at least $1 million each.

Each of CU’s campuses benefited from significant gifts, including:

• A $10 million endowed gift from CU Boulder alumnus Spike Buckley established the Buckley Center for Sustainability Education. The investment provides $2 million annually over five years to advance sustainability education across the campus. The center will fund faculty development, curriculum innovation, experiential learning opportunities and student leadership programs that integrate sustainability into disciplines ranging from engineering to the arts. The gift aims to prepare future leaders with the knowledge and skills to address urgent environmental challenges while fostering a culture of responsibility and innovation at CU Boulder.
• At UCCS, the Kane Family Foundation’s generosity made nearly $700,000 in scholarship funds available in the last academic year to 50 Colorado students working toward a UCCS degree. The foundation’s namesakes, Wanden and Andy Kane, were ranchers and philanthropists from Fountain, Colorado, who believed in independence through education. Celebrating 20 years, the Kane Family Foundation has been integral in the education of students at colleges and universities in southern Colorado, including UCCS.
• Donors to CU Denver gave $7.2 million last fiscal year to support student scholarships, increase access to higher education for a broader student population and alleviate financial burdens. This included a cornerstone $1 million anonymous gift to provide scholarships for up to four students annually in the Department of Sociology.
• A patient at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center at CU Anschutz made an anonymous $40 million gift to the Department of Ophthalmology to treat and potentially cure eye diseases like macular degeneration and glaucoma, increase focus on basic science and harness artificial intelligence to revolutionize vision care in the years ahead. The gift will accelerate the campus’s ophthalmology program that is already an innovative, national leader in the quest to treat and cure eye disease.

While most gifts to CU can be used immediately, donors also give to strengthen CU long into the future. Of last year’s $522 million total, donors invested $104 million in endowed gifts while creating 133 new individual endowments. A total of 3,693 individual endowments benefit CU – all with distinct purposes established by the donor – with a collective value of $2.5 billion as of June 30.

A small percentage of each endowed gift is distributed to the university each year, while the remainder is invested prudently and expertly in a long-term investment portfolio to help grow the endowment so it can continue to support its intended purpose for decades to come.

Donors also gave a record $128 million in planned gifts by including CU in their wills and bequests, establishing their legacy and leaving CU with additional future support.