IU Foundation raises $250 million

The University received almost $250 million in “voluntary support” last year, according to the IU Foundation’s recently released annual report – a significant number, said the foundation’s president Curt Simic. \nThe IU Foundation is the University’s not-for-profit corporation, responsible for maximizing the University’s private capital. This capital, coming in the form of endowments and donations, is continually used by the University for specific programs. These programs often include constructing new buildings and providing scholarship opportunities for students, Simic said. \nLast year, Simic said, a large portion of the University’s financial support came in the form of endowments. These donations are given to specified programs within the University with the condition that only capital gained from the investment of these donations could be spent. Simic said endowments were particularly popular last year because of a University-wide push on this type of support. Also, he said donors were willing to make endowments because of another IU program which says the University will match the income of such donations. \n“A big chunk of the endowments were used for scholarship and graduate fellowship,” Simic said. This was in large part because last year the University put an emphasis on the recruiting of top-quality students, Simic said. With increased scholarship funds, the University would be able to convince students to attend IU through competitive financial aid packages. \n“You have to remember these people are being lured by everyone else too,” he said. \nDespite a noticeable upward trend in the total support of IU over the past several years, the University’s voluntary support dipped about $50 million last year when compared with 2004-05. During that year, IU received more than $300 million while this year it received $247.5 million, according to the report. \nThis was because in 2004, the University received what Simic called a “mega-gift” from the Lilly Endowment. He said these hefty gifts often could augment a year’s total support, but IU did not receive one last year. \nHowever, he added that IU received other large gifts this year that weren’t included in the annual report because they did not occur before the report’s deadline. These included a $50 million dollar donation to the IU Cancer Center by Mel and Bren Simon last November. This year, rather than focusing on the accumulation of endowments to help promote scholarship, Simic said the University would be looking to collect other support that could be used in the construction of IU’s new research and teaching spaces. \nAlso included in the report is an examination of national support of universities in 2004-05. IU placed ninth in the nation, while five out of the top 20 schools were in the Big Ten. The University of Wisconsin-Madison placed second in the nation, behind Stanford in terms of “total voluntary support,” according to the report. \n“We have more mature fundraising institutions in the Big Ten,” Simic said, explaining that those schools have been actively collecting money from gracious alumni and businesses longer than many of the country’s other institutions.