Faculty and Staff Campaign raises $764,238 as participation, gifts grow

More than 1,200 members of the campus community contributed $764,238 to the 2012-13 Faculty and Staff Campaign, according to Sarah Sligo, executive director of Annual Giving.

 

The gift total represents a 5 percent increase in donations over last year, while the number of donors grew 6 percent to 1,229, said Sligo.

 

“Our faculty and staff really stepped up for this year's campaign, illustrating in this most tangible way the depth of their support for moving UMass Amherst forward,” said co-chair Robert Feldman, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

 

To help promote a culture of philanthropy on campus, Sligo said, a fund of $500,000 was initially established to match gifts given by current or retired faculty and staff during the 2012-13 academic year. Pledges made by Dec. 31 were eligible to be matched dollar for dollar, up to the $10,000 level.

 

“Because the campaign was so successful, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy extended the match to include all pledges made within the campaign period, which resulted in an additional $685,677 for the programs and initiatives supported by our campus community,” said Sligo. “This is the most money that has ever been matched for the Faculty and Staff Campaign – last year $596,000  was matched. And the results with both dollars and donors overall keep getting better and better each year.”

 

Along with Feldman, this year’s campaign is co-chaired by James L. Craig ’96 M.Ed., biological sciences librarian in the Science and Engineering Library; Jeanne Horrigan ’81, director of the New Students Program; Arthur Kinney, Copeland Professor of Literary History and director of the Renaissance Center; and Ken Toong ’04 MBA, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises.