Record number of donations given in 2003

A record number of donors contributed money to IU this year, a 5 percent increase over the previous record set a year ago. IU received 105,977 donations this year, which adds up to almost $155 million.\nBarbara Coffman, the executive director of Strategic Planning and Communications of the IU Foundation, said everybody will benefit from the donations.\n"Students are big beneficiaries in many ways, especially through scholarships and fellowships, which are direct support to students," Coffman said. "There are also other ways students benefit from the foundation. For example, if someone contributed to the library, there will be more books and other facilities."\nDonors are categorized into six official categories: corporations, alumni, foundations, friends, other organizations and parents.\n"Typically alumni is a big category, although they do not necessarily give the biggest total dollar," Coffman said. "A lot of donors got their education from Indiana University and they want to make sure a lot of other people get it too, and that is why they contributed to the foundation ... so it's a lot giving back."\nHowever, individuals who contribute did not necessarily study at IU.\n"There are a lot of reasons why people contributed to the foundation," Coffman said. "If an individual who is living near the Bloomington campus loves the theater, then the individual would like to contribute to the theater department." \nJoseph Boes, the assistant director of development at the Kelley School of Business, said the business school also had a record number of donors this year.\n"Business school alumni are the largest contributors, and most of them who make contributions were students in the MBA program," Boes said. "However, the largest individual contribution does not come from MBA. The late E.W. Kelley is the largest contributor of $23 million. He was an undergraduate student who graduated in 1938."\nBoes said half of the contributions will go to scholarships.\n"Only 30 percent of business major students applied for scholarships," Boes said. "However, 30 percent of 3,900 business students are still plenty."\nSenior Bryon Baxter, majoring in finance at the business school, said he recently received the Dow Chemical scholarship. Last year, he received the Howard Jones scholarship. \n"It is very competitive to receive a scholarship with the business school, and I am honored to receive one," Baxter said. \nThe biggest gift campus-wide came from the Lilly Endowment. Out of the money donated so far this year, $45 million of it came from that foundation.\n"These results show, once again, that a great university receives great support from its loyal donors, even in economic times," said Curt Simic, president of the IU Foundation, in a press release.