Lincoln- Alumni and friends gave $165 million to the University of Nebraska this year through the University of Nebraska Foundation, making it the foundation's third best year for total gifts.
"We're grateful to all who gave any amount to provide critical resources to advance the university and its growing stature," said Dr. Peter Whitted of Omaha, chair of the University of Nebraska Foundation board of directors.
During the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012, the foundation transferred nearly $124 million to the university campuses.
Of the funds transferred, $4.6 million supported students and faculty, $7.3 million went to research, academic programs received $38.4 million, museums, libraries and fine arts took in $3.1 million, $51.3 million went to campus and capital improvements and the four alumni associations received $1 million.
As with previous years, more than 99 percent of all gifts were directed by donors to specific purposes or campuses.
Driving the strong fundraising year was the Campaign for Nebraska, the university's current fundraising initiative now in its seventh year.
In May, the foundation announced campaign gifts exceeded the original goal to raise $1.2 billion. More than 82,000 donors have contributed so far to the campaign, which concludes in 2014.
The market value of the foundation's total assets was $1.8 billion on June 30, up slightly from the year before. The endowment, which is the largest portion of total assets, realized a return of -2.6 percent. The negative return was due to volatility in many asset classes, especially the international equities market.
To see the University of Nebraska Foundation's annual report or review its independent auditor's report, go to www.nufoundation.org/annualreports.
For additional information on RD projects, please visit Rural Development's new interactive web map featuring program funding and success stories for fiscal years 2009-2011. The data can be found at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/RDSuccessStories.html.
