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Pictured: (seated left to right) Linda Acciardo, Director, Communications; Robert Beagle, Vice President for University Advancement; Louise Rosarbo Dinsmore, Director, Athletic Development; (standing left to right) Mary Patty, Director, Publications; Michele Nota, Executive Director, Alumni Relations; John Peltier, Director, Advancement Information Services; Paul Witham, Associate Vice President for Development; (not pictured) Myrna Bizer, Director, Donor Relations; Robin Spivla, Programming/Special Events Assistant; and Sarah Howard, Director, Annual Giving. |
Message from Advancement Vice President Robert Beagle
Making a Difference is our new campaign theme, but the truth is our alumni and friends have been making a difference in the life of the University of Rhode Island since its inception. Over a century ago, then Kingston postmaster, Bernon Helme, envisioned a school that would prepare and educate young people for the benefit of their fellow Rhode Islanders. He shared his dream with his neighbors, and raised $2,000 from about 30 Kingston residents to purchase the 140-acre Oliver Watson farm as the site for a new state school. This land is today part of the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston Campus. Through its early years, private charity continued to play an important role in URI’s growth, and on May 5, 1957, the URI Foundation was established with a purpose of encouraging private support to the University.
Today, through the generosity of generations of alumni, faculty, corporations, foundations, and community friends, our endowed holdings have grown to above $81 million. More than $78 million of these monies are invested with the URI Foundation. Additionally, we receive more than $5.7 million annually in contributions for immediate current operations. Last year, total charitable contributions—including gifts of cash, stock, equipment, and annuities—exceeded $16,687,049 million. These gifts were put to use in both operating and endowed accounts supporting a variety of campus-wide programs.
Building our endowment has become a priority for us, as it is with most public universities and other nonprofits. President Carothers’ Three-Year Strategic Plan for URI clearly establishes endowment growth as a priority. The intent is to have at least a $100 million endowment at the end of 2009. In reality, a successful “Making a Difference” Campaign will drive the endowment well beyond the $100 million mark. This growth will result from both new monies generated through fund raising and from return on investment. The President’s Plan also establishes several other strategic priorities that are fundamental to our current “Making a Difference” Campaign—increased financial aid for students to continue to enhance enrollment (including retention) and increased support for faculty.
Endowments are critical because the gift principal remains intact. They are also important for other reasons:
ℑ Endowments help an organization address or emphasize priorities. For example, as noted earlier, a priority for us at URI is to bolster our support for academically and financially deserving students. While the academic quality of our students has risen steadily over the last five years, the financial need of our students has also continued to rise.
ℑ Endowments are used within the higher education marketplace to measure institutional stature and quality.
ℑ Endowments provide long-term fiscal stability by helping an organization with its resource base during times when resources might be tight. This is especially crucial for us as URI only receives about 19% of its budget from the State of Rhode Island.
In addition to seeking more scholarships and financial aid for both undergraduate and graduate students, URI needs funding to recruit prestigious faculty for research purposes and for the development of new curriculum in critical majors such as biotechnology and the health sciences. Support is further needed for respected, bedrock academic programs in engineering, the liberal arts, human services, oceanography, and business. Funding is sought for cross-disciplinary programs such as the Honors Program and Honors Colloquium, and for the URI Library, the center of academic life. Recognizing that university life extends beyond the classroom, we also have fund-raising initiatives underway for athletics, campus life programs, and the Greek community.
The athletics component of the campaign, chaired by Joe Formicola, includes building a new Student Athlete Development Center to house first-class athletic and training facilities.The Center will be located on the west side of the existing athletics complex, providing a new gateway to the practice fields. This state-of-the-art facility will include weight training, aerobic fitness, rehabilitation, hydrotherapy, medical and counseling areas. Students will have dedicated spaces for academic tutoring, and offices for training staff and coaches will also be provided.
As you can read in this issue of QUAD ANGLES, our Campaign Leadership Committee has been formed under the direction of Tom Ryan (see p. 16). The Committee is a nationally based group with lots of new faces. The members are taking a hands-on approach to their work on behalf of their alma mater, and we are indeed grateful for their enthusiasm and commitment to URI’s future.
URI works hard to respond to changing donor expectations. Donors have become much more interested in directing how their support is used; choosing to support specific programs of personal interest; and receiving confirmation their gifts are used as intended. We have been sharing the outcomes of their giving through new email communications, our enhanced Web site, and events like the annual donor brunch as well as a series of scholarship luncheons hosted at the President’s residence. In fact, working toward better communication with all of our constituents has long been a priority, and we are delighted with the continued positive response to inAdvance@URI our biweekly electronic newsletter, and to our monthly online chat series.
We are fortunate that alumni and friends understand the critical need for unrestricted gifts to support current operations. This year, gifts and pledges to the Fund for URI (formerly the Annual Fund) rose by six percent, with a year-end total of $1,249,531. Contributions to this Fund impact lives beyond the classroom. For example, this past year’s gifts to the Parents Fund, a component of the Fund for URI, made it possible for URI kinesiology majors to work as counselors at Camp Abilities, a one-week developmental sports camp for children with sensory impairments, located in Brockport, New York.
Contributions to the Rhode Island Rams Athletic Association totaled $1.3 million. Gifts to URI Athletics create possibilities for our student-athletes to achieve success on and off the field. These gifts make a difference in the lives of student-athletes like Atlantic10 track champion Destiny Woodbury and pitcher Steve Holmes. Holmes was recently drafted in the fifth round by the New York Mets.
While the past giving year was a bright one, with many highlights, we were disappointed that the State was not able to fund a matching grant program for us. Although the program was enacted into law in 2005, our request for $5 million to support the program still goes unfunded. When funded, the program will provide URI 50 cents for every dollar raised for endowment, up to a maximum of $5 million. Twenty states, including three in New England, have had such programs. In each case, the state university has reported that its endowment fund raising has been substantially aided by the match. We will keep working on this, with the hope that the program can be implemented during the early years of our current campaign.
Of course, philanthropy extends beyond monetary gifts. There isn’t any combination more powerful than volunteerism and philanthropy. They go hand in hand in any successful nonprofit endeavor. URI needs its alumni and friends to step forward as workers, leaders, external advocates, sources of inspiration, and contributors. The time, talent, and leadership of URI’s alumni and friends are deeply valued. We are fortunate to have intelligent, articulate, and wise people serving on our boards and committees. In addition to the Capital Campaign Leadership Committee, we wish to recognize the solid work of other volunteers, including: Peter Miniati, President, URI Alumni Association; Mary Carmody, Chair, The URI Foundation Board; Steve and Laura Cunningham, Co-Chairs, Fund for URI; Donna Arnold and Tom Cerio, Co-Chairs, Parents Fund for URI; and John DeCubellis, President of the Board, Rhode Island Rams Athletic Association. This army of volunteers enables URI to progress in stature and reputation. We thank them and you for Making a Difference!
Robert Beagle
Vice President for University Advancement
Photo by Nora Lewis
