"This has been a remarkable year, because it's the second year in a row that we've had our best fundraising year ever, not counting the exceptional year of the Woodruff gift in 1980," said William Fox, vice president for institutional advancement. "This support shows the enormous reputation of Emory -- that so many people are willing to participate in this excellent institution."
Fox noted that the $400-million Emory Campaign, which is in its final months, plays a very direct role in increasing gifts to Emory. "That Emory received nearly $73 million last year, actual cash in hand, reflects the campaign itself; it is immediately generating more funds to the University," said Fox. "The campaign is also a mechanism to make people on campus more conscious of fundraising. So many people have been willing to help in so many ways including the senior officers, deans, faculty, trustees, alumni, parents and friends.
"There's also been a great deal of commitment and energy on the part of institutional advancement staff," said Fox. "We're on the road, making more visits than ever before to alumni and friends." Fox also credited Regional Program efforts, Alumni Assembly and Alumni University with engaging alumni and friends in the life of the University; the public relations staff with communicating Emory's story; and the donor records office with providing strong record keeping on gifts and donors.
"In all these activities," said Fox, "we are seeking to be good stewards of the gifts to Emory by developing lasting relationships with our donors."
This year Emory received $17.35 million in gifts from individuals as compared to $24.66 million last year; $47.49 million this year from organizations compared to $39.77 million last year; and $7.92 million this year from trusts and bequests compared to $4.2 million last year.
Most of the increase in gifts from organizations occurred mainly in the private foundations category. Through the years, Emory has received strong foundation support, the most well-known provided by the Woodruff Foundation. Nationally, foundations provide 21 percent of voluntary support for higher education, according to the Council for Aid to Education. At Emory, foundation giving accounted for 50 percent of gifts last year.
"This past year, Emory received some 300 gifts from private foundations," said Fox. "We have been fortunate to continue to be recipients of the generosity of the Woodruff Foundation, and Emory also has received great support from foundations all over the country, several of which are less well-known for their support of Emory. Those gifts typically provide for very specific needs or programs and are broadly distributed across campus."
One example of a private foundation gift that met a specific need is a $100,000 gift from the Japan Foundation that David Bright, vice president for arts and sciences and dean of Emory College, will use to expand the Asian studies program. "The development of Asian studies is a priority for Emory College," said Bright. "We've had a lecturer in Japanese language; this gift will be used to initiate the first tenure stream appointment in the teaching of East Asian languages."
Bright pointed out that the College has experienced a growing and persistent interest in Asian studies, with 50 students enrolled in Japanese this semester. "We will use this gift for a second appointment in Japanese language instruction that will permit us to extend language instruction to all four years of undergraduate study. This gift is a way of solidifying the beginnings of a formal program in Asian studies."
Another foundation gift prompted an alumnus to make a gift of $2 million to the University. The foundation promised to donate $750,000 to the refurbishment fund for Oxford College's Bonnell, Dickey, Dowman and Stone residence halls, but the college had to raise a complementary $1.5 million before the money would be awarded. In December 1994, Fleming L. Jolley '43Ox-'47M made a gift of land to Emory worth $2 million, $1.1 million of which will be used to revamp the Oxford residence halls.
"I knew that no other project would have greater impact on the long-term financial stability of Oxford than providing housing comparable to that of other small, private, liberal arts colleges," said Oxford Dean William H. Murdy. "This challenge grant lent momentum to our efforts, and many alumni and friends made much appreciated contributions. Dr. Jolley's generous gift, the largest single gift ever given by an alumnus to Oxford College, ensured our plans to refurbish Oxford's four oldest residence halls."
One of the real success stories of the medical school this last year was at the Eye Center, where the priority has been a "mini campaign" to raise money for an addition. Several commitments have been received, including a substantial gift in trust from Jolley's mother, LeoDelle Jolley, but the largest and most important was a timely gift from retired Georgia Gulf CEO James Kuse and his wife Shirley. Their $2 million gift will allow the Emory Eye Center to build the second floor addition.
According to Thomas Aaberg, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, "The addition will provide vitally needed new laboratories and clinical space for the Emory Eye Center."
Giving to Emory through trusts and bequests was an area of giving that showed significant growth last year; this growth is the result of a very intentional focus by institutional advancement staff. "We are attempting to obtain commitments of between $500,000 and $1 million a month in the face value of bequests and trusts," said Jack Gilbert, associate vice president for gift planning. "Although we can't anticipate a regular flow of money since it comes when it comes, this has been an extraordinary year. People more and more are including Emory in bequests and trusts. They also have an increased awareness of the opportunities to save taxes in their lifetimes."
A $3-million bequest from Daniel James Jordan '83 EMBA is making a difference for the business school. Jordan, 56, and his wife Ginny, died within a week of each other in 1993; this budget year the school received the funds, and Dean Ron Frank will use the income from their bequest to address a critical need of the school: faculty support for research and teaching. Frank created the Daniel James Jordan Faculty Fellows program in which he will select three to five faculty members each year to receive supplementary funding to support their research or teaching efforts.
"The Jordan gift came at just the right time, when it's crucial that we make investments in our faculty," said Frank. "Here you have a school that during the past six years has attracted outstanding faculty; the challenge now is how do you keep them and how do you ensure that they develop in ways that are compatible with the school's goals? With this gift, we now have the resources to help people develop at a fairly rapid pace after they arrive on our faculty."
Frank said the Jordan awards will be aimed at junior faculty who have not yet attained the rank of professor, and his initial priority will be to fund proposals for research on globalization; secondly, for research on any aspect of business; and thirdly, for curriculum development on globalization.
"One of the nice things about the Jordan's bequest is that they left it to University leadership to link the money to the most crucial need," said Frank.
--Jan Gleason