September 2003: Vol. 82, No. 4September 2003: Vol. 82, No. 4Record-setting year in fundraising
hanks to your support, we followed up the best academic year in UGA history with the highest total private giving in our history. The supporters of the University showed their loyalty to this institution in the fiscal year which ended June 30, 2003, by setting a record for private giving, with $72.05 million in gifts and pledges. Included in this total are 14 gifts of $1 million from individuals. On behalf of the students, faculty and staff who benefit from your generosity, I say "Thank you."
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 Michael F. Adams |
Private giving provides the margin of excellence for public universities. Private gifts for scholarships, student and faculty travel and facilities needs allow us to provide opportunities that otherwise would not exist and to support the mission of this university beyond the level of state support. Every gift is a symbol of an individual's support for the University, and we take seriously the obligation inherent in such gifts.
The total budget for the University now exceeds $1.1 billion. We receive about 40 percent of that as an appropriation from the General Assembly through the Board of Regents. Tuition and fees amount to 14 percent, and with the state appropriation, account for just over half our annual budget.
We have to find the rest.
Funding for research, which this year will total more than $230 million, is another area which generates revenue for UGA. Other contracts and grants make up an additional portion of the budget.
Gifts to the UGA Foundation, the private organization which manages private gifts to UGA, allow donors to commit resources to areas of the University that are important to them, from scholarships for top students to facilities such as the Student Learning Center to travel stipends for students in the Honors Program to endowed faculty positions. Our development staff also works with potential donors to point out areas of need at the University so that a gift may have its greatest impact, matching the generosity of a donor with an area of specific import to the university.
In particular, the UGA Athletic Association experienced a strong year in fundraising, including a charitable lead trust that will distribute $4.2 million over 20 years and a portion of two charitable gift annuities totaling about $4 million, with the balance going to support other UGA programs.
The UGA Foundation, which is managed by a volunteer board of trustees, is responsible for investing an endowment that totals nearly $300 million. It is the return on the endowment which provides the revenue to support the many facets of the foundation's impact on this campus and its missions.
Thank you for your support of the University. Much of what we tout about this institution is possible because of you.
Many of you have heard about the fire that was intentionally set in the Main Library late in the afternoon of July 23. The very best news that came out of this despicable act is that no one was hurt; all of the estimated 250 or so people who were in the building got out unharmed. Local fire and emergency services responded promptly and efficiently, and the fire was contained to an area on the second floor where federal government documents are available for public use. Smoke damage, however, is extensive and there is water damage on the lower levels. We are working to have the library open on Aug. 18 when fall semester classes start.
The three premier collections in the library—Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, and Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection—were undamaged beyond a small amount of soot and dust in the Hargrett Library. These collections are among the University of Georgia's most valuable treasures and have themselves been built in great part through private support and donations. I am thankful that there was no harm done to them.
