Financial Updates | Upcoming Meetings | Campus News and Fundraising Highlights
Dear fellow Foundation Trustees
Welcome to the DashBOARD, our newsletter for CU Foundation trustees.
There is much excitement and signs of spring at the University of Colorado following a very cold and snowy winter. All of us at the CU Foundation and CU Advancement are waiting with great expectations the results of the CU presidential search. You can find an update on the presidential search here. We are all grateful that Margaret Bathgate, our fellow trustee and former board chair, is a member of the presidential search committee. Margaret is thereby able to represent the perspectives and interests of the CU Foundation and trustees in this important discernment process for CU.
As you all no doubt are aware, we launched the public phase of our $4 billion Essential CU campaign in January. In his newsletter in February, President Benson articulated well the reasons why the Essential CU campaign is so important to the future of CU. We have received tremendous positive feedback on the campaign’s messages and ambitious goals. We are more than half way to our $4 billion goal in large part thanks to your philanthropic support during the campaign’s quiet phase. Current and former trustees have contributed almost $100 million to the Essential CU campaign so far and your giving to CU constitutes 18% of all gifts from individuals to the campaign. You can learn more about the Essential CU campaign here.
All trustees are encouraged to visit the CU Foundation’s website regularly for the latest information about the work we are doing. At the website, you will find the Foundation’s 2018 Annual Impact Report to Investors, our most recent audited financial statements and IRS Form 990, and the FAQ document we released late last year.
Upcoming in the weeks ahead is the annual joint meeting of the Foundation’s Finance/Operations Committee and Investment Policy Committee to hear from the Foundation’s investment advisors and to assess the Foundation’s Endowment Spending Policy in light of current macroeconomic trends and the investment marketplace. This work is necessary because committee members and the Foundation’s directors take seriously their fiduciary duty to ensure that the endowment funds the Foundation holds for the benefit of CU grow at least on par with inflation while at the same time paying out the highest amounts possible to support each endowment’s intended purpose. The Foundation’s Board of Directors will consider the recommendations of these committees when in June it sets the Endowment Spending Policy for next fiscal year.
I am pleased to report that while the financial markets took a tumble at calendar year end, CU’s endowments were all “above water” at December 31 and so all of the endowments will make their annual 4% of market value distributions this year. And, speaking of investment results, here is a fun graphic showing the LTIP’s 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-year investment results as compared to the investment results of our PAC-12 peer institutions. Let’s hope that the Buffs can match this track record in the decade ahead!
I look forward to seeing all of you at our next trustees gathering at the Garden of the Gods and the UCCS campus on May 2 and 3. Chancellor Reddy and his team will be hosting us for cocktails and dinner on Thursday evening as UCCS launches its Campaign to Fuel Success, which is part of the system-wide Essential CU campaign. This will also be the final trustees meeting during President Benson’s term of office.
In this season of transitions, as President Benson prepares to retire after eleven years at CU’s helm, Bruce and Marcy have been saluted at campus events for their more than a decade of making a difference for CU. The CU Foundation will join the chorus of praise and recognition when we host a special cocktail reception honoring the leadership, accomplishments and service of Bruce and Marcy Benson. This garden party for all trustees and major donors will be at the Denver Country Club the evening of June 11. Save the date and watch for your invitation in the mail.
Jack Finlaw
President and CEO
University of Colorado Foundation
Total Private Support
Since the start of the fiscal year through Dec.. 31, donors made 12,636 gifts totaling $179 million in private support benefitting CU.
LTIP Investment Performance
For the 6-month period ending Dec. 31, 2018
-5.60%LTIP
-6.87%Policy Benchmark
Financials
As of Dec. 31, 2018
$1.59BLTIP Value
$1.26BEndowment Value
2,844Endowments
2019 Trustee Activities
Thursday evening receptions and Friday morning meetings
May 2-3, 2019 at UCCS
August 15-16, 2019 at CU Denver
October 24-25, 2019 at CU Boulder
Recent Campus Private Support Highlights
CU Anschutz
Colleen and David Kessenich gave $2 million to the Kessenich Multiple Myeloma Research Fund to support research in the CU Division of Hematology. This funding specifically fuels efforts surrounding multiple myeloma, a disease the Kessenich family is deeply passionate about.
Richard and Joyce Brown pledged $500,000 to create the Richard Brown/Annie Moore, MD, Endowed Professorship Fund for Excellence in the Patient-Physician Relationship. This fund supports a faculty position dedicated to improving the patient care experience.
The Fernando Bolanos Foundation gave $50,000 to support the Guatemala Triangle Project, a collaborative effort among all the schools and colleges at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. These efforts promote population health, provide clinical services and encompass various research activities.
CU Anschutz named the Health Sciences Library for alumnus and benefactor Henry L. Strauss (’51). Strauss’s longtime advocacy and philanthropic contributions to special collections at the Health Sciences Library have impacted students, faculty and visitors for more than two decades.
CU Boulder
Ed Ashwood (’75), MD, and his wife, Candice Johnson, made a $6.5 million commitment through their estate plans to establish the Ashwood/Johnson Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship will support undergraduate engineering students at CU Boulder who intend to pursue a career in medicine. This path proved fulfilling for Ed, who went on to earn a degree in medicine after majoring in engineering. He is now the Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Pathology at CU Anschutz. Ed and Candice hope their gift will help alleviate burdensome debt for aspiring medical students.
Through a $3.1 million gift, the Crawford family is investing in the nutritional needs of Buff student athletes. The family has a giving legacy to CU of almost 30 years, and their recent gift will expand and enhance CU Boulder’s Performance Nutrition Department. Their Buff pride tradition extends from Gordy and his wife, Dona, to their late son, Brett, who attended CU from 1990 to 1993, and to their son, Jeff (’90), his wife, Orsi, and their two children, Jack and CJ. Read more about their gift here.
Through a $10 million gift commitment, Paul Rady has established three endowed chairs at CU Boulder. The commitment includes one $5 million endowed chair in the Department of Geological Sciences and two $2.5 million endowed chairs in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. These endowments will bring CU Boulder's geological sciences and engineering programs to new heights of talent and sustainability, while also supporting an endowed program in engineering in collaboration with Western State Colorado University. Read more here.
CU Denver
In addition to celebrating his 50th anniversary with CU Denver this year, Bob Damrauer has endowed a distinguished lectureship in chemistry. Damrauer is a chemistry professor, associate vice chancellor for research, and special assistant to the provost. He with his wife, Lennie, a professor of computer science, have donated to CU Denver in many ways, including the Robert Damrauer Scholarship Fund and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Distributions from this newest fund will provide support for an annual lecture in the department of chemistry. The lectures will focus on chemical subjects of broad interest, appealing to students and faculty in chemistry and, when possible, a broader audience including scientists, engineers and mathematicians.
Professor Mary Guy has established the Mary E. Guy Endowed Professorship Fund in Public Administration, which will be funded with lifetime and testamentary gifts. Guy joined the School of Public Affairs in 2008; her research focuses on public administration with special emphasis on the human processes involved in public service delivery. She has published extensively and received multiple honors and awards in recognition of her work while her findings have helped improve the management and human resource functions in public service organizations.
UCCS
Kent and Stephannie Fortune have pledged $30,000 over three years in support of the UCCS Men’s Basketball program. Kent (’89), a CU Foundation Trustee and former basketball student athlete, believes in the vision of Jeff Culver, the UCCS men’s basketball head coach. The gift will support recruiting efforts for the Mountain Lions as the program expands its recruiting base nationally.
Mike Fryt, a CU Foundation Trustee, alumnus of UCCS and a graduate from the Colorado Law School at CU Boulder, has pledged $ 1 million to create the UCCS College of Business Building Successful Futures Endowed Scholarship Fund. The gift will significantly support the UCCS Bridge Forward Scholarship and enhance the Law School Leaders in Law and Community Scholarship. Fryt serves as the Executive-in-Residence at the College of Business and sits on the Dean’s Executive Advisory Board. Fryt is passionate about supporting students in their academic endeavors and has dedicated much of his time to the university. His gift will create more possibilities for students who need financial support.
The Inasmuch Foundation has pledged $500,000 over the next five years to create the Barbara Yalich Endowed Fund. The fund will support the director’s position at the UCCS Aging Center. Barbara Yalich is a Colorado Springs philanthropist, co-founder of the Innovations in Aging Collaborative, and a member of the Inasmuch Foundation Grants Advisory Committee since 1982.