Our Mission

Organized in 1956 as a nonprofit IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) organization, The University of Iowa Foundation is independent from The University of Iowa and is governed by a volunteer board of directors that elects its officers and hire it staff.

The UI Foundation is acknowledged by the University as the preferred channel for private gifts to The University of Iowa, through annual giving programs, planned gifts (such as outright gifts of securities or real estate and deferred gifts through wills and trusts), and other special-purpose campaigns.

The mission of The University of Iowa Foundation is to maximize private gift support for The University of Iowa while continuously laying the groundwork for future fund-raising success, in order to aid the University in fulfilling its own mission of excellence in education, research, and service.

Maximizing private support entails understanding constituencies, cultivating the charitable intentions of individuals and organizations, expanding the base of contributors, retaining contributors, and upgrading contributors' support. It also means raising money effectively, providing stewardship to funds already raised, and operating efficiently to maximize the Foundation's viability as a fund-raising organization and its value to the University.

In achieving these goals, the Foundation aligns itself with the University's major fund-raising priorities. The Foundation is a team participant in the broad institutional advancement objectives of the University, serving in promotional, advocacy, and service roles that run parallel to and are supportive of fund raising, but that do not dilute the Foundation's primary purpose.

THE UNIVERSITY'S VIEW

The University of Iowa's administration has underscored the UI Foundation's longtime and continuing role as the preferred avenue for gifts and bequests to support any of the institution's programs, projects, or units.

Although the University itself sometimes receives gifts and bequests, its central administration prefers that these be directed to the UI Foundation,* because its specialized staff is trained and equipped to encourage, receive, record, and acknowledge such contributions, and to properly inform, recognize, honor, and report to contributors.

University administrators have also confirmed the institution's commitment to a centralized model of fund raising that has been successfully utilized by the Foundation since it was organized in 1956. This involves maintaining a team of professional fund-raising officers within one organization to ensure central coordination of development efforts and efficiency of administrative support.

The UI Foundation was established to seek funds beyond those available through state appropriations, tuition payments, contracts, or from other non-gift sources, thereby helping to provide the University with a margin of distinction in fulfilling its mission. The University President, with counsel from deans and other key administrators, provides important guidance as to fund-raising priorities for the University. The Foundation's board of directors seeks to implement such priorities for its fund-raising initiatives within the parameters of its resources and purposes.

* The Iowa Law School Foundation which predates the UI Foundation and supports the College of Law, also functions as a nonprofit corporation with its own board of directors. All gifts it receives are processed through the UI Foundation, and all Law School Foundation contributors are recognized as contributors to the UI Foundation as well.