To the UC Davis Community:

I’m very pleased to share with you wonderful news about philanthropic support for UC Davis during the past fiscal year, and to provide an update on UC Davis’ first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign.

You may have already seen or heard some of this good news. In a press release on August 13, we announced that UC Davis received $112.3 million in private support during the 2009-10 fiscal year that ended on June 30. This is the fourth year in a row that philanthropic gifts, grants and pledges to UC Davis exceeded $100 million. These contributions included: a gift of more than $1.2 million for student scholarships from the estate of Violet E. Stenson; a $1.5 million gift from the Lanie Albrecht Foundation to establish the Albrecht Chair in Basic Science at the UC Davis Cancer Center; and more than $1.7 million in unrestricted contributions to the UC Davis Annual Fund from more than 13,000 donors. For more information on private support in 2009-10, please visit: news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9576

Philanthropic support vital

The entire UC Davis community deserves to take pride in this impressive accomplishment. The past year was a turbulent one for the global economy, making fundraising a challenge at major research universities across the country. That UC Davis would again top $100 million in private contributions at a time of such economic uncertainty is a powerful testament to the high quality of the university’s research, teaching and public service, and to the loyalty and dedication of our friends and supporters. UC Davis appreciates and benefits from the private contributions made by all our supporters—including faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, patients, foundations, corporations, and other organizations.

Philanthropic support has been vital to UC Davis since its founding, and it will remain a critical element in our efforts to ensure and enhance the academic excellence of the university. UC Davis continues to receive critical core funding from the state of California, but to advance among the nation’s top research universities we must attract additional revenues, including private support.

UC Davis’ vision is a bold one—one that philanthropic support will help us to realize. From creating energy-saving technologies to combating childhood malnutrition in Africa, from improving access to medical care through tele-health to better understanding the human condition, philanthropy advances vital work across the entire university. Private gifts enable hundreds of undergraduate, graduate and professional school students to receive scholarship or fellowship support each year. And private donations help UC Davis extend the new knowledge that is generated here into the local and global community through public service.

In recognition of the important role that development plays in connecting UC Davis with philanthropic resources—resources that advance the university’s mission and vision—a search is currently underway to fill the new Vice Chancellor–Development position.

'The Campaign for UC Davis'

And this fall, UC Davis is poised to launch the public phase of its first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign. The Campaign for UC Davis, which has an aggressive target of $1 billion, presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to further our ambitious vision for this university through philanthropic support. The campaign is considered “comprehensive” because the entire university is involved, and private support raised for all purposes across the university— including scholarships, fellowships, faculty support, research, programs, facilities and other purposes—is included in the campaign total.

The quiet leadership phase of the campaign began on July 1, 2006, with the approval of the UC Office of the President and the endorsement of the UC Davis Foundation Board of Trustees. During the quiet leadership phase, we have been building our base of volunteer leaders, testing campaign goals, and raising inspirational gifts from many of our dedicated supporters. More than $582 million has been raised during the campaign’s quiet leadership phase; this represents truly impressive progress toward our $1 billion goal. The university’s volunteer fundraising leaders—the Campaign Cabinet, the UC Davis Foundation Trustees, Dean’s Advisory Board members and many others—are greatly encouraged by the campaign’s success to date, and their leadership has been vital in achieving more than half of our goal during these early, quiet phase efforts.

In mid-September, The Regents of the University of California—as required by UC policy—are expected to review and vote on approving UC Davis’ launch of the public phase of the campaign. I will be making a presentation to the Regents at that time, and the dollar goal and planned duration of the campaign will be confirmed.

Following the Regents’ approval, we plan to celebrate the announcement of the public phase of the comprehensive campaign on October 22, in order to thank our friends and donors for their support and to spread the word about how this campaign will advance the university’s mission and our newly completed UC Davis: Vision of Excellence (vision.ucdavis.edu). We are also planning campaign events that will take place in other parts of the state and nation later in the academic year.

As an important member of the UC Davis community, you are an ambassador of this university, and your support will be key to the campaign’s success. I look forward to sharing additional information with you about the campaign in the months ahead.

Sincerely,

Linda P.B. Katehi
Chancellor, UC Davis