UALR Fundraising Tops $103 Million

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock announced that its final tally for its first comprehensive fundraising campaign pulled in $103.6 million in gifts and pledges.

That amount exceeded the campaign’s original goal of $75 million.

“The energy surrounding the announcement of UALR’s first-ever comprehensive campaign was unparalleled in the history of the university,” said campaign chair Haskell Dickinson. “The campaign reflects the enthusiasm and vision that will catapult Arkansas into a new era of economic growth.”

The seven-year campaign, “It’s Time for UALR,” created 211 new privately funded scholarships, added electrical and mechanical engineering options in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT), increased the number of nursing graduates by establishing the Willard and Pat Walker Nursing Scholarships, and founded the Stephen Harrow Smith Endowed Dean of Business.

The campaign received 15 gifts of more than $1 million, led by a $12 million gift from the George W. Donaghey Foundation and a $6 million gift for engineering from the Trinity Foundation. A $1 million endowment from the Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable Trust established the Sturgis Charitable Trust Nanotechnology Chair. And, a gift from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation established the African American Male Initiative, a mentorship program that assists African American male students with retention and graduation at UALR.

A total of 18,605 donors participated in the campaign. The Office of Development processed a total of 103,306 gifts and pledges, 85 percent of which are already realized.

“The stage is now set,” said Chancellor Joel E. Anderson. “We now have more donors and prospects engaged at the end of the campaign than the beginning or mid-point, and we have built a philanthropic culture to serve the campus well into the future.”