Sondra Lomax
Executive Director and Assistant Dean for Development
Despite the pandemic, we had a great fundraising year for the college. We raised over $17 million, surpassing our annual goal of $15 million. Now, for our new members and guests today, I need to explain that this is not $17M in spendable cash, but primarily a combination of various endowment funds dedicated to specific purposes, along with future estate gifts that people have placed in their wills.
Many of these gifts support our Top COFA funding priorities:
- Facilities (upgrades, expansion, renovation)
- Student support (undergrad scholarships; fellowships for grad students)
- College-to-career initiatives (internship funding, UTNY,–our satellite campus in Manhattan, and UTLA, our residential program in Los Angeles)
- Faculty endowment support (chairs, professorships, fellowships)
- Program endowments (aka “excellence funds”) which are unrestricted support for specific departmental programs and initiatives.
Now it takes a village to raise to these types of resources, and in addition to the fundraising that Doug and I undertake, we have a whole team of gift officers who work with our donors around the state and beyond. These professionals are donor advisors who can work with you to match your philanthropic goals and interests with various areas of our college. They can also explain the multiple ways in which gifts to our college may be realized. I hope you will get to know them, and welcome them when they reach out.
Thanks to the advocacy and support of our Advisory Council and Parents Council, last year was highly successful for our fundraising, and we look forward to our continued work with you during this new academic year. Besides helping us to network with individuals, foundations and corporations, It is our sincere hope that each and every one of you will find a program or initiative in which to become engaged and of course, that you will be motivated towards an investment in the UT College of Fine Arts. The future is bright for COFA, and we are glad you are here to share in its accomplishments and to help ensure its continued success.
