The University of Connecticut spends $7 million each year supporting its foundation; and in return that fundraising arm doles out about $40 million a year on things like student scholarships or sports complex construction.
It’s a give-and-take that has existed for years — though UConn officials are now counting on a better return as the school’s budget swells by about $42 million each year.
“There is no bright future for UConn without tremendous growth in philanthropic giving and in our endowment,” UConn President Susan Herbst told her governing board Thursday.
The foundation has begun seeing growth in giving over the last two years, with nearly $77.9 million in new pledges in the fiscal year that just ended.
Likewise, UConn’s endowment has also grown to $383.8 million — an 11 percent increase over the previous year — as donations increased and the financial markets improved nationwide.
However, for all this growth, the amount of funding the UConn Foundation disburses to benefit the university has not yet budged. Its national ranking for the size of its endowment remains in the low 200’s.
“We have some work to do,” said Joshua Newton, the president of the UConn Foundation.
Here are several charts that show the fiscal and performance history of the foundation