University officials said this week that a reported 44 percent increase in donations for this year was not an estimate for the 2009 calendar year but had in fact already occurred for the last fiscal year, which finished in June.
A report published by the Chronicle of Higher Education last week said the University had projected it would raise more than $80 million this fiscal year, but Jerome Posatko, associate vice president for development operations, said this week the money had already been raised last fiscal year.
“It was not a projection of what we expect to raise. It’s what we did raise last year versus the year before,” Posatko said, adding that the Development Office increased its donations from $58 million in 2008 to $84 million in 2009, a $26 million increase.
Reporters from the Chronicle confirmed Wednesday that the 44 percent increase was an actual increase, rather than an estimation.
Other nonprofits work on a different fiscal calendar than GW, and some nonprofits reported estimates of their fundraising, as their fiscal years have not yet ended, said Candie Jones, a reporter for the Chronicle.
While many nonprofit organizations are struggling to raise funds in a weakened economy, Posatko attributed the University’s steep jump in fundraising to donors fulfilling large pledges they had made in years past.
“The increase was fulfillment of pledges that we received one year ago, two years ago, three years ago, so even though the economy was down, we still had donors [who] were fulfilling pledges they had made to us years earlier,” Posatko said.
Patricia Danver, a spokeswoman from the Development Office, added that the increase could also be attributed to a “focus on principal gifts,” which are gifts valued at $1 million or more.
Danver cited gifts such as “a $10 million gift from the Cyrus Katzen family for cancer research, a $2 million gift from an anonymous donor to the Charles E. Smith Center transformation and a significant grant from an affiliate organization,” as donations that contributed to the increase.
Posatko did admit it has been tough to fundraise in the current economic climate.
“[If] you read the Chronicle article or any article, nonprofits are really hurting,” Posatko said, adding that “with 10 percent unemployment rate, people are out of work, and so people are having a tough time just making ends meet, so they can’t in good conscious make a commitment to us.”
Yet Posatko said maintaining relationships with past donors, as well as starting to foster relationships with recent alums, will ensure that when the economy begins to look up, donations will once again start to come in.
Danver echoed Posatko’s sentiments.
“Philanthropy is about relationships to people we’ve known for many years and we will continue to build the relationship,” Danver said. “It’s not about whether or not they can make the gift this year, its more about maintaining the relationship. If we do that well, they will be with us in good times and bad.”
