by Sean Good
Daily Lobo
Lobbying to the state legislature isn't the only way to get money for UNM.
The UNM Foundation raised more than $62 million this year.
The foundation, a nonprofit organization that gets money for the University from private donors, raised $14 million more than last year, said Michael Kingan, vice president of the organization.
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"We've already broken our record significantly this year, and we're still not done with our year until June 30," he said. "It's very exciting for us."
The approaching deadline should draw some large donations, said Pamela Hurd-Knief, associate vice president for development.
"I think our numbers will be significantly different by the end, because people know we stop counting on June 30," she said. "So, even in the last week of a period, we still get a fair amount of gifts."
Hurd-Knief said this year's amount is almost triple what UNM got when she started working for the foundation nine years ago.
"So, we've obviously had some tremendous progress," she said.
Kingan said this year's fundraising success was notable because of a staff shortage.
"Sometimes in the past, we've said that we've lost so many people that we can't raise the money," he said. "We did this in spite of that."
Kingan said Robert Wood Johnson Foundation contributed the most.
The $18 million donation was the single largest contribution in the UNM Foundation's history, Kingan said.
"Obviously, their donation made a big difference on our numbers this year," he said.
One dedicated donor comes through for the foundation every year, Kingan said.
"The Sandia Foundation is our largest donor, because they donate over $1 million to us every single year," he said. "We've been doing this for 27 years, and so Sandia's regular donations really added up."
Sandia's $1 million gift is well above the average donation, which was about $1,900 this year, Hurd-Knief said.
"That's because there were 30,314 total gifts recorded for this year alone," she said. "Many people will donate less than $100."
Hurd-Knief said donors decide how their money will be used.
"Ninety percent of the money that we raise is directed by the donor as to where it will be spent," she said. "For instance, an Anderson School graduate could donate $1 million to us, and we could make sure that the money went to Anderson's program if the donor specified that."
Kingan said most of the money goes toward school programs and faculty.
"We raise money in every school and college at UNM," he said. "We're starting to see each of those units receive more money as we get more donations."
Kingan said the foundation focuses its efforts toward faculty members, teachers and mentors.
"If you ask any college graduate what the most important thing was for them in college, it always comes down to a person like a faculty member or a teacher who helped them," he said. "Our donations let us provide resources to keep the great faculty members and teachers here, making UNM a more competitive school."
Hurd-Knief said the foundation needs to communicate with UNM President David Schmidly to increase its success.
"We're talking with the new president at this time about what we need to raise money for and what we need to do differently than what we're currently doing," she said.
