Private Giving to UA Tops $100 Million

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama received a record $106 million in private gifts and pledges for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2005. The total marks the first time the University has raised more than $100 million in one year, and reflects a 40 percent increase over the previous year.

“This impressive increase in giving to the University is a strong endorsement of President (Robert E.) Witt’s vision for the future. We are fortunate to have a very strong base of alumni and friends who support the University and all its endeavors,” said Tom Martz, vice president for University advancement.

Martz, who joined UA on Sept. 1, gave credit for the strong fundraising year to the University’s development staff. “Pam Parker, associate vice president for development, and this dynamic team have had an extremely successful year. It is an exciting time to be involved with The University of Alabama,” he said.

Some 45,448 individual donors contributed to UA during FY 2005. The $106 million total includes three gifts and pledges of $5 million or more, 16 gifts and pledges of $1 million to $4,999,999, and 117 gifts and pledges in the $100,000-$999,999 range. Among those gifts were $6.4 million from Channel 23 to establish a commercial television station at the University, $5 million from Mignon Smith of Washington, D.C., to establish the J. Craig Smith Chair in Business Integrity, $2 million from Regions Financial Corp. and Carl and Ann Jones to establish the Carl E. and Ann K. Jones Regions Endowed Scholarship, and $2 million from the Julia Teks estate for endowed scholarships.

In other recent fundraising highlights, the Crimson Tradition Fund has raised $57 million, $7 million over its original goal of $50 million, for athletic facilities. UA has completed the Capstone Medical Center and broken ground for a major addition to the Law Center as a result of successful fundraising efforts.