University Times

Pitt received $41.4 million in voluntary support from July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996. The total represents a 5 percent increase over last year and is the largest single-year fundraising total in the University's history.

According to the Office of Institutional Advancement, in the preceding year, FY95, the University collected $39.4 million in voluntary support. However, $4.5 million of that total was a one-time gift from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

In his report to the Board of Trustees' executive committee on July 19, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg termed the results "extremely gratifying and somewhat unexpected" in a year when Pitt has undergone a change in leadership.

Nordenberg pointed out that if UPMC's $4.5 million gift is removed from the total for FY95, voluntary giving to the University in FY96 actually increased by 16.5 percent.

"I think that's an important sign both of the quality of the University's programs and the reservoir of good will that exists in the community," the chancellor said.

As part of the University's efforts to increase voluntary giving, Nordenberg said that a fundraising counseling firm has been retained to assist the Office of Institutional Advancement in developing long-range fundraising strategies and goals.

According to Margaret McDonald, interim vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement, the firm of Grenzebach Glier and Associates of Chicago, Ill., was hired at a cost of $60,950 for a campaign preparedness audit. The firm is expected to have it report completed by the October Board of Trustees' meeting.

Associate Chancellor Vijai Singh is chairing the seven-member search committee that has been formed to find a vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement. Margaret McDonald has been serving as interim vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement since Lawrence Weber resigned in October 1995.

"I am confident that a large number of highly qualified candidates will have an interest in the position, particularly given the fundraising success of the past year," Nordenberg said.

–Mike Sajna