'Giving BlueDay' raises $4.3million for the University.

Submitted by RP on

Yesterday, 12/1/2015, was Giving Blueday at the University of Michigan. This campaign was planned in order to raise money for scholarships, various club sports, and basically any other University group that needed some extra funds. The totals were just released, and this years total was: $4,361,327 raised by 6927 donors.

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mgokev

December 2nd, 2015 at 10:46 PM ^

That's a nice average donation. Curious about the median, though, and whether that total was driven by a few major donors or whether a substantial number of people donated in the $500+ range.



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Wolverine Devotee

December 2nd, 2015 at 11:01 PM ^

I gave $100 to Bentley Library.

They're using donations to digitize every single Michigan Daily ever. Searchable versions.

That's going to be a game-changer for not just the SuperGuide Projects but history of Michigan Athletics.

So many things lost to history are going to be found. Mainly ones I'm looking at for Football is putting together a complete history of the spring game and the game history of the freshman football team.

Many people forget that the Michigan freshmen played games against other separate from the varsity from 1898-1972.

Joined: 06/29/2009

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MGoBender

December 3rd, 2015 at 7:31 AM ^

Look, I'm sitting on 50k of loans still, but I hate people who don't understand endowments.

They take the return on investment from the endowment and use it to fund scholarships.  The bigger the endowment, the more money they can give to current students.  The smaller the endowment, the more it costs people to go to UM in the first place.

 

Joined: 03/26/2010

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DJ Dickhead

December 3rd, 2015 at 4:40 AM ^

I recently read a statistic that 75% of the alumni base donates to U of M. That seemed incredible to me. So glad to be a part of this wonderful community.

Joined: 12/02/2015

MGoPoints: 130

Zoltanrules

December 3rd, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^

Women in Science and Enginering. It is a great program that encourages women in the STEM fields. This is a huge area of need. The lack of American citizens, especially women and minorities in these fields is a problem that is hurting our country.

Now back to emotional bashing Durkin.

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Brodie

December 3rd, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^

I did seriously give money to the Dearborn campus as I've never donated to them before in spite of them hitting me up more often than the AA campus does. 

Joined: 11/19/2008

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Brodie

December 3rd, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^

I did seriously give money to the Dearborn campus as I've never donated to them before in spite of them hitting me up more often than the AA campus does. 

Joined: 11/19/2008

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Evil Empire

December 3rd, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^

I have donated some in the past, but I am in better shape to donate than I have ever been.  And I'm disillusioned with university fundraising in general.

When I was at UM, one earnest administrator (Maureen Hartford?  Royster Harper?) said that "Multiculturalism was *the* job of the university."  I thought that was bunk then.

Now it appears that expanding the non-teaching staff and physical plant, and adding frills and extras to the university experience are *the* job of the university.  The appeals for alumni donations are well-aimed and well-crafted.  But my cynicism grows.

Oh, you need more money?  What will you do with it?  The noblest answer going appears to be "give it to students who will pay it back to the university."  Feed the beast.

There is no limit or ceiling on tuition and fees.  I heard the LSA dean speak to an alumni group ~12 years ago.  A harried parent asked him what the university was doing to keep tuition in check.  The dean did not guffaw but he couldn't help smirking.  There's no incentive for the university to do that.  Any increase in the price of attendance gets matched by the government's ceiling on non-dischargable loans to students.  The school gets paid no matter what. 

I guess I'm bitter that my experience is a thing of the past.  My parents, both UM graduates, raised me to think that college = UM.  When my brother and I attended, they paid for it from the money they'd saved for that purpose.  This was on a single middle-class income.

Now my wife and I both work and make good money.  We have two little kids.  And there's no way in hell we'll be able to afford to send them to Michigan when they're old enough.  Our income and standard of living is better than my family's was when I was a kid.  But tuition has increased at a much higher rate...just over 5% per year on average.  The national CPI has increased by 2.27% annually over that same time.

Assuming the rates of increase hold, four years of out-of-state UM tuition for my now 8yo daughter should cost about $330k.  My 5yo son should expect to pay $400k.  If we can't afford to pay that for them, how long will they have to work to pay it off?

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Bando Calrissian

December 3rd, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

I'm generally unenthusiastic because, in general, the money I would give to the university through their general fundraising campaigns would likely never be spent on students like I was when I was at Michigan. No one is putting a fancy new humanities classroom or new library book on the brochure--it's all palatial, luxurious STEM facilities. No one gives a shit about the history prof doing groundbreaking research in their field, either.

Them's the breaks. Maybe I'll toss some cash to the Residential College or UM Libraries someday, but not as a young alum.

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