The CU Foundation partners with the University of Colorado to raise, manage and invest private support for the university’s benefit. Our donors help the university transform lives through education, research, clinical care, and community engagement.
Our History
In 1967, the private, nonprofit University of Colorado Foundation was created by a group of dedicated volunteers and community leaders. They foresaw the need to supplement state funding, tuition, and other revenue streams with fundraising support. The strategic vision and organizational framework was developed by volunteers Ira Rothgerber, Jr., Joseph Coors, Sr., Lou Degan, Nicholas Petry, Neil Norgren and Leonard Perlmutter among others. Their vision called for an independent, private CU Foundation that would:
- Strategically solicit and manage private funds for the University on a centralized basis.
- Ensure Foundation staff is accountable to donors first and foremost.
- Ensure the ability to protect the confidentiality of donors and fundraising strategies and processes by structuring the organization as an independent nonprofit.
- Ensure that private funding sources are managed with a view toward long-term growth and success, and not solely subject to short-term demands and pressures.
- Ensure private giving is not used as an offset for state support in difficult economic situations.
Our Mission
To raise, manage, and invest private support for the benefit of the University of Colorado.
Our Vision
As a valued and trusted partner, the University of Colorado Foundation generates the private support needed in perpetuity for CU to achieve international preeminence as a public research university. Our donors enable CU to reach its full potential to transform lives world-wide through education, research, clinical care, and community service. The University of Colorado Foundation is a tax exempt organization under IRC 501(c)(3) and a public charity under IRC sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(iv). Click here to see some ways you can help with private support, or view CU Foundation’s Creating Futures “Invitation to Give."
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