Foundation meets 103 percent of goal, raises $43.3 million

Madison Fantozzi/News Director

The University surpassed its $42 million fundraising goal by $1.3 million for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, according to the FIU Foundation.

This is a part of University President Mark Rosenberg’s goal to raise $750 million in 10 years, a plan that started in 2009. The Next Horizon campaign is apart of FIU’s Worlds Ahead initiative.

Howard Lipman, senior vice president of University Advancement and president and chief executive officer of FIU Foundation, Inc., said that people are excited to give back to FIU.

[pullquote]“We want that student that is struggling financially to have that scholarship,” said Lipman. “We want that faculty member working on a research project to have the support they need.”[/pullquote]

FIU Foundation is a non-profit corporation responsible for soliciting, receiving and administering gifts for scientific and educational purposes for the University.

This year, $43.3 million was raised from 20,233 donors who made 25,278 gifts, including $10 million in support of nursing and health sciences, $6.5 million for Wolfsonian-FIU and $5 million for arts and sciences.

Since 2009, the University has raised about $188 million toward its overall goal, according to the Foundation.

University Advancement’s Campaign Communications Director Andra Liwag said the fundraising campaign is currently in its “quiet” phase: goals have been set, leaders are in place and infrastructure is underway.

Lipman said the first phase of the campaign is to build momentum.

“We promote the University’s vision and people get really excited,” said Lipman. “They want to be a part of ensuring FIU continues, as our vision states, ‘to be a leading urban public research university focused on student learning, innovation and collaboration.’”

Liwag said the gifts in the first phase set the foundation for the campaign.

The campaign will move into its second phase at the end of the next fiscal year, during which, Lipman said, no gift is too small.

“There’s this level of public trust,” said Lipman. “With less state support, we are calling on the community.”

In the third phase, the Foundation will ask alumni to give back to their alma mater.

Liwag said the investment in FIU is a bigger investment into the community, with about 85 percent of FIU graduates staying in the South Florida area.

“At the core, the purpose of our campaign is to help the FIU degree continuously increase in value, making a student’s investment of time and tuition even more valuable in the future than it is on the day they graduate,” wrote Liwag in an email to Student Media.

This year’s gifts also included $2 million for the Alumni Center, $1 million for the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and $900,000 in support of the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

“These are but a few of the many examples of the outstanding generosity of our FIU family,” wrote Liwag in an email to Student Media.

The Foundation has $562 million to raise over the next seven years to fulfill Rosenberg’s plan.

“Our university leadership is confident that we will reach this goal,” said Lipman. “Over the life of the campaign, we will get that money.”

Lipman said the Foundation even received a generous donation shortly after the fiscal year’s end.

“It’s not just about meeting a deadline to meet our fiscal year goal,” said Lipman. “We don’t want to rush our supporters, we want them to be excited to invest in FIU.”

Lipman said he wants people to care about building the future of the university and ultimately of the community.

“It’s all about relationship building,” said Liwag.

– madison.fantozzi@fiusm.com