Mizzou Raises $65 Million in Six Months; Campaign Total Rises to $715 Million

March 24th, 2016

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Today, University of Missouri Advancement officials announced that the MU comprehensive fundraising campaign Mizzou: Our Time to Lead has raised more than $715 million. This number represents an increase of more than $65 million toward the campaign goal of $1.3 billion since the campaign celebrated its public kickoff in October 2015. Tom Hiles, vice chancellor of advancement at MU, says MU’s dedicated alumni and donors continue to support Mizzou despite a challenging year for the university.

“I am amazed at the loyalty of MU donors,” Hiles said. “The events of the fall that garnered national news coverage have evoked a spectrum of views from frustration to concern to support. The bottom line is our donors care passionately about Mizzou’s heritage and its future. Our leadership donors and most of our annual donors have continued to support us. We are so grateful.”

“Private philanthropy is vital to the education and research missions of the university,” MU Interim Chancellor Hank Foley said. “Our generous donors continue to see and appreciate Mizzou’s value to the state and nation and are instrumental in helping us support student scholarships, attract and retain top-notch teachers and researchers, and advance our missions of academics, research and extension. This support will further position MU as a leader in education and research for Missouri, the nation and world now and far into the future.”

The Mizzou: Our Time to Lead campaign seeks to raise $1.3 billion to support and advance the educational and research goals of Missouri’s flagship university. Mizzou: Our Time to Lead will help to elevate MU’s status in the Association of American Universities (AAU) as well as significantly increase the university’s capacity for education, research, and student and faculty recruitment. Fundraising efforts for Mizzou: Our Time to Lead are focusing on three priorities:

• Increasing the Endowment
  Campaign leaders hope to increase the endowment to more than $1 billion to allow MU to remain competitive with its peers in all areas regardless of the economy’s fluctuations.

• Signature Centers and Institutes
  MU currently houses several signature centers and institutes, which are the engines of research and service growth that enhance the lives of citizens of our state, nation and around the world. Campaign leaders envision five to 10 new centers or institutes with endowments of $10 million or more.

• Campus Renaissance
  Campaign leaders are seeking public and private partnerships to fund new academic buildings including a new School of Music building, a new fine arts building, a teaching winery, and additional renovations to Lafferre Hall.

MU is one of 23 universities around the country currently engaged in $1.3 billion-plus campaigns. This campaign began six years after MU finished its first-ever $1 billion campaign, For All We Call Mizzou, in 2009.