U of I Foundation donations are up 10 percent

URBANA, Ill. - The University of Illinois Foundation said Monday that it received $259.5 million in donations during the fiscal year that ended June 30, a 10.5 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

The money came from cash gifts, pledge payments, annuities, life-income gifts and estate distributions, said foundation treasurer Walter Knorr, who also is the University of Illinois' chief financial officer. The foundation raised $234.9 million in fiscal year 2013. The foundation noted that the 2014 total is the seventh straight year of more than $210 million in donations.

About 29 percent of funding came from other foundations, the largest donor source, the University of Illinois Foundation said. Corporations came in second at about 21 percent. The foundation processed 151,250 gifts during fiscal year 2014, a 4 percent increase from a year ago, officials said.

The combined University of Illinois Foundation endowment totaled $3.2 billion at the end of the fiscal year, officials said.