University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee issued the following announcement on Aug. 3.
Even in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the University of South Florida community rallied together during fiscal year 2021 to support students, faculty and staff by raising in excess of $110 million. This marks the third year in a row that annual charitable giving benefitting the university surpassed $100 million.
“The fact that we’ve been able to maintain pre-pandemic levels of giving this year, which has been challenging for so many, is especially meaningful,” USF Foundation CEO Jay Stroman said. “The support from the University of South Florida community has helped us overcome and, in many cases, excel in the face of the pandemic. Raising $110 million shows that our donors continue to believe USF is a great investment. Thank you to everyone who supports USF and helps propel our university to even greater heights.”
The $110 million in fiscal year 2021, from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, represents gifts from more than 36,000 donors, including 7,250 new individual donors who made their first gift this year.
The generous support of USF donors helped advance several strategic initiatives for the university, including:
In December, USF broke ground on the new home of the Judy Genshaft Honors College, a five-story, 85,000-square-foot facility rising just north of the Muma College of Business. Private gifts totaling $43 million have been pledged and received for the project, including a historic lead gift of $20 million from USF President Emerita and Professor Judy Genshaft and her husband, Steve Greenbaum, in 2019.
Giving from USF Health patients increased significantly from just over $54,000 in the previous fiscal year to $3.97 million in 2021. Patient philanthropy primarily supported research for a range of medical specialties and conditions.
Renovations of locker room facilities for USF’s student-athletes have been completed and plans are well underway for construction of an Indoor Performance Facility funded by private donations, with a groundbreaking expected in the upcoming academic year.
USF’s endowment had a banner year, growing from more than $532 million to over $690 million. More than $39 million in endowed gifts were made this year.
Donors also continued to provide life-changing scholarship support for students, with nearly $8.5 million raised for new and existing scholarships in fiscal year 2021.
USF also held a successful birthday celebration for its beloved mascot, Rocky, by hosting Giving Week April 5-9. During the week, more than 1,400 gifts were received, totaling over $230,000 to support causes across all USF campuses.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up