OSU Foundation breaks $100M fundraising mark for FY06

Friday, September 1, 2006

Oklahoma State University Foundation officials reported Friday a record-breaking $104.7 million received in private gifts for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006 (FY06), which included monumental gifts from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, and Walter and Peggy Helmerich. In addition, the Foundation achieved a 21.7% total return on its pooled investment fund.

This is the first time the OSU Foundation has raised more than $100 million in gifts in a single year. The university has set two consecutive years of such record-setting support, topping the $56 million raised in FY05, up from $36.8 million in FY04. In fact, the more than $160 million raised in the last two years exceeds the total raised during the four years prior to FY05.

“Eclipsing $100 million in private gifts is a tremendous milestone," OSU Foundation Chairman Ken Greiner said. “Our success is a testament to the immense loyalty and dedication of our alumni and friends who have responded to our call in making the OSU experience accessible to the best and brightest young people.”

In addition to the OSU Foundation’s record fundraising, the university, through its athletic foundation, received a transformational $165 million gift from generous alumnus and philanthropist, T. Boone Pickens. Pickens’ gift was the largest single donation ever for athletics to an institution of higher education, and the largest gift received in OSU’s history.

“We are obviously delighted with all of our fundraising results last year, and I commend our Foundation team for a banner year,” said David J. Schmidly, OSU System CEO and president. “Most importantly, I want to thank all our donors for their commitment to OSU and what their gifts mean to our university. We want to say a special thanks to Boone Pickens for his on-going support and generosity.”

Along with record-breaking gift totals by the Foundation, the total investment return on the Foundation’s Pooled Investment Fund was 21.7%.  Last year’s investment return of 14.3% ranked the university in the top 6% of all U.S. colleges and universities (41st out of nearly 700 institutions), according to information released early in 2006 by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). The median investment return of institutions surveyed was 9.3%.

The investment returns for FY06 assisted in achieving a $42.4 million increase in the Foundation’s endowment, growing the fund to $235.6 million.

“Oklahoma State University is experiencing unprecedented progress on numerous fronts,” said Kirk Jewell, OSU Foundation president and CEO. “This extraordinary support from OSU alumni and friends is a tangible demonstration that Oklahoma State University is truly being transformed in the early years of the 21st century."

In September 2005, Walter and Peggy Helmerich and The Helmerich Foundation pledged $9 million to OSU-Tulsa’s first research and technology development center, which will be named the Helmerich Advanced Technology Research Center. The donation marks the largest academic facility gift received in university history. The facility is slated for completion in fall 2007.

The OSU Foundation also received the largest gift ever received from a private foundation in November 2005 with a $14.8 million gift from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to renovate and expand facilities for the university’s nationally renowned School of Architecture. The new facility will be named the Donald W. Reynolds Architecture Building and renovations on the facility will begin in 2007.

“These are exciting times at OSU,” said Joe D. Hall, chairman of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents. “The OSU Foundation is doing an outstanding job raising record amounts of money to support OSU's academic, research and athletic initiatives. We appreciate the leadership of President Schmidly and Kirk Jewell.”

The Oklahoma State University Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents.  Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence.

For more information on the OSU Foundation, log on to our website at www.osuf.org or call 405.385.5100.