Michael Chihak talks to Johnnie Ray, President and CEO of Arizona State University Foundation.The three foundations that raise money for Arizona's state universities are bringing in more and more private money as universities' state funding continues to wither.
The three exceeded $250 million in private fund-raising in the last fiscal year -- $148 million for the University of Arizona, $95 million for Arizona State University and $10 million for Northern Arizona University -- foundation executives told Arizona Week in interviews.
Additionally, the executives said, their endowments -- permanent funds that generate earnings for various aspects of the universities -- are growing steadily. The three combined have endowments totaling about $1.24 billion: $650 million for UA, $500 million for ASU and $90 million for NAU.
All saw dips in fund-raising as a result of the recession, but the UA weathered it more strongly than the others, based on figures from James H. Moore Jr., president and CEO of the UA Foundation.
"Private support at the university last year was approximately $148 million," Moore said. "We've been in that $145-$148 million over the last three or four years. We're actually pretty steady."
ASU Foundation President and CEO Johnnie Ray said fund-raising had topped $100 million a few years ago, but dipped to $95 million last year as a result of the recession. He said he hoped to see it rise above the $100 million mark again soon.
NAU Foundation President Mason Gerety said that contributions at his school have also gone down, but are up a bit this fiscal year, to about $10 million. He said his hope is to build it to $16 million a year in the near future.
All three said they feel an urgency to grow endowments and fund-raising because of continued state budget cuts. The three universities took an average 20 percent cut in state funding, or $198 million, for the coming fiscal year, and that only compounds other significant cuts in the previous four years.
Ray said that while private fund raising is improving, it is not a panacea.
"Philanthropy does not solve budget problems, generally," Ray said. "What philanthropy does is it allows for enhancements to occur."
Gerety agreed, saying that private funding at NAU is a small part of the overall operation and will grow to become a significant but not major source of funding.
Reporter Michael Chihak further explores higher-education philanthropy tonight on Arizona Week. Watch it now:
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