The past fiscal year, according to MUSC’s executive director of development, Jim Fisher, represents both “the understanding of the role of philanthropy and a celebration of the generosity of donors to the Health Sciences Foundation.” The nearly $11.5 million in new gifts and pledges made during the 1996-97 fiscal year is, says Fisher, a 21 percent increase over totals of the previous year.

Highlights of those 12 months include the following:

• The YES (Yearly Employee Support) campaign, chaired by Dr. Ray Greenberg, vice president for academic affairs and provost, raised a total of $235,000 in gifts and pledges, 27 percent over the goal of $185,000.
• Approximately 25 percent of the total number of YES campaign gifts were made by e-mail, the first time that option was offered.
• Twenty-six percent of the university’s alumni made gifts to the Health Sciences Foundation. The College of Dental Medicine led the six colleges, with 40 percent of its total graduates contributing, followed by the colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy with 30 percent each, the College of Nursing at 25 percent, the College of Graduate Studies at 24 percent and the College of Health Professions at 17 percent. q Several major gifts received during the year boosted totals. They included a $750,000 grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles, for the Sea Island Families Project, a program directed by Dr. W. Timothy Garvey and designated for the study of the genetic basis of complex diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis and prostate cancer. The Hollings Cancer Center and the Harper Student Center received $66,000 and $44,000 respectively from the Post and Courier Foundation, and the College of Nursing was presented a major gift from ConvaTec, a division of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, designated for the college’s Wound Care Management program. Dr. Elliott Finger, a 1933 College of Medicine graduate and a surgeon in Marion, donated his house on the Waccamaw River to the Health Sciences Foundation. Proceeds from the sale will be used to complete funding for the establishment of the Horace G. Smithy Chair at MUSC. Additionally, the Abney Foundation of Greenwood made a $250,000 contribution to research; and an in-kind gift of equipment by South Carolina Net, Inc., of Columbia to the College of Health Professions established a distance education facility in the College of Health Professions.

MUSC, says Fisher, scores far better than national averages in several categories. The national level of alumni donations for public universities, for example, is 20 percent. “The crowning glory, however, is the cost of fundraising at MUSC—16 cents for every dollar raised versus the national average of 22 cents,” says Fisher. Additionally, special events, a major resource for generating private support for centers of excellence such as the MUSC Children’s Hospital and the Hollings Cancer Center, cost about 30 cents on the dollar—15 to 20 cents below national figures.

Gifts made during July and August indicate that the current fiscal year may prove even stronger than its predecessor. Already, more than $1.8 million in current gifts and $165,000 in pledges have been received, numbers that include SCANA’s $100,000 gift to the Ann Darlington Edwards Chair, the first endowed chair in the College of Nursing, and a contribution of $75,000 toward a $375,000 gift to the Hollings Cancer Center from Wachovia Bank of South Carolina.

The Health Sciences Foundation was established to provide private gift support to help meet the university’s mission of education, patient care and research. Since its inception in 1966, its endowment has reached nearly $53 million.

William M. Matthew, vice president for development, credited the fundraising successes of the past fiscal year to a heightened sense of the role of philanthropy at MUSC and a concentrated effort by university development team members under the leadership of MUSC president Dr. James B. Edwards. “As state allocations continue to decline, the members of our development team at MUSC have risen to the challenge of increasing awareness of the critical role that private gifts serve in realizing the priorities of the university. As a result, the MUSC family—alumni, faculty, department chairman, deans, administrators and friends of the institution—have stepped up to the plate and demonstrated their confidence and pride in the university and their faith in maintaining its leading position as an academic health sciences center,” he says.