LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has released the final results of its first comprehensive fundraiser on Wednesday.
The campaign "It's Time for UALR," was a seven-year initiative at obtaining a $100 million goal. The initial tallies from the fundraiser indicate that 3 percent of the estimated $100 million-plus total came from faculty and staff donations.
The current amount raised topped out at $103.6 million, according to a release from UALR. A total of 18,605 donors participated in all.
The fundraiser also received 15 gifts of $1 million or more, including a $12 million donation from the George W. Donaghey Foundation. This also includes a $6 million gift from the Trinity Foundation for engineering. That donation led the 46 percent of the funds that were dedicated direct program support. Included in this is that 6 percent of the funds went to faculty support and 20 percent to student support.
“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 in the release. “The campaign reflects the enthusiasm and vision that will catapult Arkansas into a new era of economic growth.”
In addition, a gift from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation established the African-American Initiative, a mentoring program that assists with retention and graduation among African-American males at UALR.
In all, the campaign created 211 new privately-funded scholarships, as well as adding electrical and mechanical engineering options in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology.
In August of 2010, the university announced it met it's goal of $75 million raised in a year-and-a-half, thus increasing the goal to $100 million.
The university will hold a reception on Tuesday night for its top donors at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall.