UMaine Announces Annual Fundraising Total
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Alumni and other friends donated $18,358,852.95 to the University of Maine in the year that ended June 30, 2006. With the exception of 2002, when UMaine received a valuable donated patent, this represents the largest one-year private fundraising total in UMaine’s history. The gifts supported everything from scholarships and research to 4-H programs and the renovation of historic buildings, including Lord Hall, the new home of the university’s Department of Art.
“The response to our fundraising efforts has been overwhelmingly positive,” says UMaine President Robert Kennedy. “Our friends and supporters, particularly those who are alums, really appreciate UMaine and its critical importance statewide and beyond. They recognize that we have set ambitious goals for this university, and that we are making real progress. They want to help, and to be a part of charting the course for UMaine’s future. We are tremendously grateful for the support of each and every person who has made the decision to contribute. The university, as well as the entire state, depends on their generosity.”
The largest gifts during 2005/06 included:
– Three estate gifts totaling nearly $4 million
– A gift of the Mahaney Dome donated by the late philanthropist and community leader Larry Mahaney
– A $500,000 gift from the Libra Foundation to support the renovation of the Maine Center for the Arts
“President Kennedy’s leadership and our extraordinary alumni and friends are the keys to our success,” says Barbara Beers, who became UMaine’s vice president for development in March. “These returns are particularly gratifying as we continue progress on the largest fundraising initiative in UMaine’s history, a six year campaign to raise at least $150 million.”
In fact, Beers notes, the first two months of the campaign’s second year have seen several large gifts to the university, including the donation by Bank of America of the Hutchinson Center in Belfast. “We are deeply grateful to Betsey Greenstein, president of Bank of America/Maine, and everyone at the bank, for this extraordinary gift,” says Beers.
“Our greatest asset continues to be the generosity of our wonderful donors,” says Amos Orcutt, president and CEO of the University of Maine Foundation. “They appreciate what UMaine has meant to them, and they are anxious to join us in finding ways to create those same opportunities for others.”
The University of Maine Development Office, Foundation, Alumni Association, Pulp & Paper Foundation and 4-H Foundation are all actively engaged in seeking support for Maine’s land-grant university. UMaine classes will begin for the fall semester on Tuesday, Sept. 5.