Register Guard
July 27th, 2015
The $2 billion goal for the University of Oregon’s fundraising campaign is as ambitious today as it was when it was announced last October. Donations from alumni and other supporters will have to increase from their current near-record amounts if the target is to be reached before the end of the decade. But there are encouraging signs of momentum that, if it can be sustained, would bring the target within reach.
During the fiscal year that ended July 30, the UO raised $214 million in donations. That record is eclipsed only by the $277 million raised in 2008, when Phil Knight established the $100 million UO Athletic Legacy Fund that helped finance construction of the Matt Knight Arena.
Last year’s total was an 86 percent increase over the amount raised the year before, and while it included several donations of substantial size — $50 million from UO Trustee Connie Ballmer and her husband, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and $10 million from Don and Willie Tykeson of Eugene — the money came from relatively diverse sources. The UO is showing that it can depend on more than one big donor.