UNC fundraising efforts underdeveloped

The University isn’t keeping pace with its peers when it comes to dollars spent on fundraisers and development programs.

In the January Board of Trustees meeting, David Routh, vice chancellor for development, said the University has not been reaching out to its donors properly. He went on to say the University has “significantly underinvested” in his office.

“He was referring to the extent to which we’ve invested in development infrastructure, such as personnel, including front-line fundraisers,” said Scott Ragland, a spokesman for the development department.

Ragland said investing in fundraisers is crucial to expanding the University’s services to students.

“Investing more in fundraisers means we should be able to raise more in private gifts and grants that can be added to Carolina’s endowment support,” he said.

The endowment support will go toward many things that would be beneficial for students, Ragland said, such as scholarships.

The UNC Management Company does not handle all donations, but the firm does advise the University on investment opportunities with its donations.

Janine Burke, a spokeswoman for the company, said her office gives the University advice on how to use the money from fundraising.

The UNC-CH Foundation Investment Fund’s annual report expands on the UNC Management Company’s role in the the University endowment.

According to the report, the managing company’s role is to determine the allocation assets, hire and terminate external investment firms, and oversee the purchase or sale of assets.

The annual report also breaks down the spending of the University’s endowment.

The report states that largest recipient of funds goes to paying professors, making up 45 percent of the budget.

Departmental costs use 16 percent and scholarships receive 14 percent of the funds.

Ragland said the main contributors to the University are alumni, but other groups have participated in giving.

“Most donors are alumni, but we also have donors who are parents and friends of the University. Students also give,” he said.

The actual value of the donations varies greatly from person to person, Ragland said.

“They run the full spectrum of sizes, from very small to $100 million,” he said, noting the largest gift in University history, which was given in December by Fred Eshelman.

Even with the bad press that came with the Wainstein report in October, Ragland said donations continue to come in. The Waintsein report documented two decades of academic fraud at the University.

“Our numbers are strong,” he said. “Commitments, which include private pledges as well as private gifts and grants, are way up, jumping 58 percent.”

He said the numbers show that the scandal has not colored the University’s reputation for many donors.

“Our donors remain very generous and continue to value the great work being done by our faculty, staff, students and clinicians,” he said.

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