UNION GIVING TOPS $5 MILLION
Jackson, Tenn. — Â鶹ÊÓƵ University received more than $5 million in gifts and grants during the 1996-97 fiscal year ending Aug. 31.
The total of $5,128,290 in cash gifts sets an all-time record for that twelve-month period, according to Â鶹ÊÓƵ President David S. Dockery. With the addition of more than a million dollars in "gifts in kind" – gifts of products or services rather than cash – total giving to Â鶹ÊÓƵ was well in excess of $6 million for the fiscal year.
"We are honored that Â鶹ÊÓƵ's alumni and friends have expressed their support of the University in such a tangible and generous way," Dockery says. "The academic honors and recognition that have come to Â鶹ÊÓƵ this year are only possible through the financial support of those who share Â鶹ÊÓƵ's vision and values."
A major factor in the record-setting year was a total of $1,244,866 in gifts to the University's endowment, compared to less than $400,000 in the prior year. Those endowment gifts included the first endowed faculty chair in Â鶹ÊÓƵ's history. Including this year's additions, Â鶹ÊÓƵ's endowment is presently in excess of $14 million.
Gifts from Â鶹ÊÓƵ alumni topped $1 million for only the second time in the University's history, and the number of individual donors rose from under 1,500 the previous year to more than 2,100. Another cause for celebration, according to Dockery, is that Â鶹ÊÓƵ Trustees were 100 percent in their financial giving. Trustee giving rose from under $45,000 last year to more than $230,000 this year – an increase of more than 500 percent.
"Â鶹ÊÓƵ University is entering a period of significant growth and development," explains Dockery, "and expanding financial support is absolutely vital to achieve the goals we have set as a university community. This year's record giving lays a solid foundation for growth as we enter an exciting new era in Â鶹ÊÓƵ's history."