For the UNM Foundation, “Our job is all about linking people and money,” said Michael Kingan, vice president for advancement at UNM. Kingan, as president of the UNM Foundation, and his colleagues around campus solicit private funding for projects in the UNM community. The Foundation receives millions of dollars in donations each year.
Photo: Michael Kingan
“We mostly get donations from corporations and foundations, but the $100 donations help too,” Kingan said.
The Foundation focuses primarily on scholarship funding. Kingan said only about half of students receive lottery scholarships, and students need financial support for more than just tuition. Many students don’t qualify for lottery scholarships because they are in graduate school, from out of state, did not begin college within a year after graduating from high school, or have failed to maintain academic requirements.
Faculty support is also central to the foundation. “We have some of the best professors in the nation,” Kingan said. “We work to keep them here.”
Universities nationwide compete for professors, and private funding helps give faculty reasons to stay. The funding contributes to research and field work as well as salaries.
“A professor might have a great research project for their students, but it costs money,” Kingan said. “We have a great anthropology and geology department. It costs for students to go out and do research in their field.”
Private funding served as a catalyst for the creation of the Freshman Learning Communities, now supported by state funding.
The Foundation and Office of Advancement serve as facilitators, putting donors in touch with the colleges they want to contribute to. The UNM Foundation receives donations from alumni, Lobo fans and other community members.
Kingan said, “One guy, 40 years ago, was in a car accident on Route 66. He was taken to the Bernalillo County Hospital and they basically put him back together. He just donated $2.5 million to the new emergency room at the hospital.”
Each year, priorities change and a new campaign is set for all UNM campuses. The latest fundraising campaign is kicking off. Kingan said he expects it to be active over the next six years.
Story by Caitlin Lanigan
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at December 7, 2007 10:12 AM