Donor report reveals record breaking donations

Where the magic happens

U of R receives almost $1 million more than target

Article: Taylor Rattray – Contributor

[dropcaps round=”no”]T[/dropcaps]o encourage top student performance and scholarly development, the University of Regina uses fundraising to focus on student support, research support, and emerging priorities.

These include student scholarships and bursaries, providing scholars with state-of-the-art facilities, high-quality teaching, and creating innovative programs and opportunities for students. This year’s Donor’s report has been released, and it illustrates the University of Regina’s record donations.

In the 2012-2013 report, $8.5 million was donated, exceeding the university’s target of $7.6 million. This includes the $815,000 donated specifically to the College Avenue Campus revitalization. In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, $7.3 million was donated. Comparatively in the 2010-2011 report, donations equaled $5.2 million.

Wanda Deschamps, Associate Vice-President of Development at the University of Regina, states, “Donations are very beneficial fundraising priorities, [and] donor support, advance strategic priorities at the University. Specific examples would be student support, research, other initiates towards teaching and learning, and our College Avenue Campus Renewal”.

The strategic priorities illustrated in the University of Regina’s Strategic Plan, which started in 2009, include goals of community engagement, high-quality and assessable education, diversity, sustainability, efficiency, and recognition of the historical and cultural values of Saskatchewan.

With regard to the donations, Deschamps claims the University of Regina does a variety of things to increase donations.

She says, “We have a donor-centered approach so the focus of our fundraising programs are initiatives that connect with donors so that they understand the potential impact of their support.” As well, Deschamps states, “We have a number of programs, including major gifts, planned giving so the donors can include the university in their will, mail appeals and phone appeals, and online donation opportunities to ensure [that] we have a customer service oriented approach.”

Support in the form of donations came from individuals, alumni, friends of the university, corporations, and foundations. The 2012-2013 report to donors, as well as the list of donors whose contributions exceed $1,000, is located on the University of Regina Donor Relations webpage.

Overall, the 2012-2013 year brought many accomplishments to the university. Not only was it a year of generous donations, the fall of 2012 logged record student enrolment, with more than 13,000 students registered.

A report by the Conference Board of Canada states that the University of Regina plays a vital role as a driver of economic, social, and cultural well-being in Saskatchewan. The number of graduate students, self-declared Aboriginal students, international students, and government grants has also increased. All in all, the 2012-2013 fiscal year has been highly successful for the University of Regina.

[button style=”e.g. solid, border” size=”e.g. small, medium, big” link=”” target=””]Image: Michael Chmielewski [/button]