The Texas A&M Foundation will make a record $88.2 million available to Texas A&M University as a result of donations by former students and make other supporters during the past fiscal year.
In its newly released annual report, the Texas A&M Foundation announced that it will make a record $88.2 million available to Texas A&M University as a result of donations by former students and other supporters during the past fiscal year. The funds are a combination of this year’s gifts intended for immediate use as well as endowment earnings from gifts of previous years.
“There are many developments taking place on campus right now that are alluring to former students and donors,” said George Hickox, chairman of the Foundation Board of Trustees and a 1980 graduate of Texas A&M. “From the 25 by 25 initiative in engineering to the construction of a new Music Activities Center, Aggies can get involved in countless ways when it comes to creating a brighter Texas A&M future.”
Most donors to the Foundation designate how their gifts will be used; many contributions support scholarships while others fund faculty, college discretionary funds, student activities, construction and other projects.
By focusing on endowments, the Foundation maximizes growth through asset allocation of the gift principal. Its long-term investment strategy is designed to ease the effects of severe marketplace changes to provide steady endowment payout over multiple years and to preserve the original gifts.
The Foundation recorded $111.7 million in contributions during the past year. Many of these contributions are endowed funds that will support Texas A&M forever.
Foundation President Ed Davis attributes a portion of this year’s success to the university’s Lead by Example campaign, a joint effort to raise $4 billion by 2020. “As one of the largest fundraising campaigns in the nation, Lead by Example is already demonstrating the loyalty of Aggies and how much we believe in our university,” said Davis, who will retire from a 22-year career as president of the Foundation in early 2016. “It’s this generosity that keeps Texas A&M both rooted in tradition and charging full steam ahead toward the future.”
The Foundation’s net assets, which include land and other non-cash assets, increased 2.3 percent to $1.54 billion.
The funds will count as part of Texas A&M’s recently announced multi-year comprehensive campaign, themed “Lead By Example,” with a goal of raising $4 billion to help solve a variety of “real world” problems facing the state, nation and world—the largest fund-raising endeavor ever undertaken in Texas and exceeded in goal-setting by only one other public university in the nation. Texas A&M President Michael K. Young said in making the announcement the campaign is essential to provide financial resources not currently available for these endeavors and would only be forthcoming in the future with private support.
Texas A&M Foundation
The Texas A&M Foundation is a nonprofit organization that solicits and manages investments in academics and leadership programs to enhance Texas A&M’s capability to be among the best universities.
