UCI Raises $57.3 Million in 2002 as Donations Rise 61%

Contributions to UC Irvine jumped 61% in the last fiscal year, spurred by the campaign to raise money for a new medical center and an increase in the number of alumni donations.

The $57.3 million received is the second-largest amount UCI has raised in a year; in 2000, $87.9 million was donated.

Some experts on higher education fund-raising say the increase is all the more impressive because college and university donations nationally remain in the doldrums. After 15 years of increased giving, contributions to higher education dropped 1.2% last year because of the stock market decline and a weak economy, according to the Council for Aid to Education, a Rand affiliate in New York City.

“We’re hearing anecdotally the same story we’ve heard for probably the last 12 to 15 months, that major donors or major prospects have continued to express interest in giving but indicated the timing is not right,” said Vance Peterson, president of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C. “They haven’t said no, but they’ve said, ‘Come back later.’ ”

UCI’s contributions increased $21.7 million from last year. Of the $57 million, 40% came from corporations, 29% from individuals, 22% from foundations and 9% from nonprofit and other organizations. The largest gift, $3 million, came from Yamanouchi Pharma America Inc. to set up the Yamanouchi Center for Postgraduate Urological Education at the medical school.

A big boost for overall fund-raising came from the $13 million donated or pledged to UCI’s new hospital in Orange. Chancellor Ralph Cicerone has designated the medical center the campus’ top fund-raising target.

UCI must raise $50 million as its portion of the $365-million project, making it the largest fund-raising drive in university history. Other sources include $17 million from medical center reserves, $235 million in state bonds and the rest in other bond funding and equipment leases.

Thomas J. Mitchell, UCI’s chief fund-raiser, said a campaign to bring alumni closer to the 38-year-old campus was beginning to pay off; 17,887 former students gave money, compared to 17,100 the previous year.

“They see a direct correlation between strengthening the quality of UCI and the quality of their degree,” Mitchell said.

Despite this year’s increase, UCI remains far behind older UC campuses in fund-raising. UCLA raised $282.3 million in fiscal year 2001-02, the seventh-highest figure of any university in the country. UC Berkeley raised $223.3 million, to rank 16th, according to the Council for Aid to Education.

UCI’s fund-raising had peaked in 2000, the height of the technology bubble, when the school received five gifts of more than $5 million. That same year, Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, gave UCI $25.7 million. His $20-million gift to the school of engineering was the largest in the university’s history. The total donated dropped each of the next two years.

Mitchell said he expected slow growth in donations over the next few years. “By and large people are going to be very cautious until things stabilize on the national level,” he said.