Staff Report
The University raised more than $35 million from private sources in 2001-02, earning the UNM Foundation/Development office a spot in the Philanthropy 400, according to figures released Wednesday.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks the nation's largest nonprofit organizations annually according to how much money they raise from private sources. Groups needed to collect more than $28 million to be included on this year's list.
UNM earned the No. 350 spot in the most recent rankings, up 29 spots from last year.
"It's really exciting when you have this kind of quantum leap in a year when national fund raising went down across the board," said Leslie Elgood, president of UNM Foundation, Inc., in a University news release. "UNM was contradictive of many nonprofit groups. Not only did we not lose ground like many other nonprofits did, we actually increased our donations from the previous year. It's a legitimate comparison to other nonprofits."
Established in 1979, the foundation's mission is to develop private financial support for the University, according to the foundation's Web site. The University president and several vice presidents are among those who compose the foundation's board of directors, which can include up to 45 members.
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Gifts to the foundation are tax-deductible.
Of the 400 organizations named to the list, 123 were colleges or universities.
Money given to the Philanthropy 400's charities made up nearly one-fifth of the $241 billion collected by all charities nationwide last year, according to the Chronicle's Web site.
Donations to United States charities were down 0.4 percent in 2001-02, after climbing in each of the previous five years, according to the Chronicle.
