Private donations to UNC see 9 percent increase from last year

CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this story incorrectly stated the percentage by which private donations increased from fiscal year 2013-14. Private gifts and grants increased by 9 percent in fiscal year 2014. Gifts given as of Sept. 19 for fiscal year 2015 rose 34 percent compared to fiscal year 2014 gifts given as of Sept. 19, 2013. The story has been updated to reflect this change. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Private donations to the University increased by 9 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to a report released by the development office.

Although the annual report for the 2014 fiscal year has not been released yet, Director of Development Communications Scott Ragland said in an email that the University received $298.2 million in private gifts and grants, making it the development office’s second-best year in history.

“Not including athletics, $192 million of that total came from private gifts and grants of $100,000 and up,” he said.

Gifts given as of Sept. 19 for fiscal year 2015 rose 34 percent compared to the gifts given as of Sept. 19, 2013 for fiscal year 2014.

Donations greater than $100,000 are considered major gifts, Ragland said.

Major gifts officers are responsible for cultivating relationships with people who might give large amounts of money to the University — relationships that can last years and even decades.

Director of development strategies Diane Frazier has been at UNC for 23 years and said some major gifts officers have worked at the University for just as long as she has. This consistency is crucial for forming relationships, which Frazier said often take at least one year to develop.

“Working with someone over a long time, they trust you and they understand you have their interest at heart and can guide them through their giving relationship with the University,” she said.

Director of Gift Planning Elizabeth Ayers agreed on the importance of these donor relationships. Her office helps people plan future donations, such as gifts made in wills.

“You want to match their passion and interest with what we have at the University to offer,” she said. “It’s called donor-centered fundraising. It’s about matching passion and finding the right fit.”

Ayers said gift planning and major gifts are two of the development office’s central fundraising arms. She said the gift planning department contributes up to 20 percent of the University’s overall giving each year.

“Basically we help our donors figure out how to structure their philanthropy in a way that best reflects their personal, financial and charitable goals,” Ayers said.

The office’s third major fundraising arm is the department of annual giving, Ayers said.

Director of annual giving Rebecca Bramlett said her department works on smaller-scale donations that average about $120 and account for about 5 percent of giving.

Bramlett said people often do not realize that certain programs, such as Carolina Covenant and Buckley Public Service Scholars, are funded by private donations.

“I do think it’s important for people to understand that we get a lot from state funding and tuition,” she said. “But it’s almost just like the extras, the stuff on top of the ice cream sundae is what you kind of get out of private giving.”

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