Giving info

You can create a legacy for yourself, a loved one, a colleague, your company, or your organization by creating a named scholarship or bursary. A named gift requires a significant commitment and it provides significant rewards. By making a named gift you will be creating a long-lasting reminder of your commitment to the university for all to celebrate and be inspired by, now and in the future.  

There are several types of student awards, each of which is helpful to our students in a different way:

• Scholarships require academic achievement and may include a financial need component.  Renewable scholarships that cover more than one year of study are especially valuable to our students.
• Bursaries are awarded based on financial need to eligible students who have achieved successful academic performance.
• Prizes are based on specific academic achievement, such as achieving the top mark in a particular course or field of study.

Awards can be funded through annual donations by creating an endowment, the investment income from which provides the scholarship, bursary or prize in perpetuity. You may also choose a combination by making an annual contribution, a portion of which provides support for a current student, with the balance used to build an endowment over time. Some donors also contribute annually during their lifetimes and leave a bequest in their will to enable the award to continue after their death.

Please contact us and we will discuss options for setting up an award in your name.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, endowed funds at the Haskayne School of Business have grown to over $56 million, and the University of Calgary’s overall endowment is $497 million. University endowments play an important role in providing a measure of financial independence and in sustaining scholarships and bursaries, libraries, chairs and professorships, and other programs critical to a rich educational experience.

All endowed funds are put into the University of Calgary endowment, which is managed by outside fund managers and overseen by the U of C Finance Committee and the Board of Governors.  As of March 31, 2011 our endowment reached a new high in market value -- $497 million. We are especially proud of this accomplishment because we are the youngest institution amongst the top ten endowments in the country. Our one-year annualized return of 9.36% was the highest amongst the ten largest Canadian university endowments. The University of Calgary’s endowment has had the highest rate of return in four of the past five years.

We are grateful to all donors for your continued support and we will continue evaluating our endowment performance and the economic environment with the long-term perspective of maximizing value to our students, researchers, donors and community.

Our goal is to communicate effectively with you, our donors, and be transparent in our handling of your donations.

After your donation, you will receive a letter of thanks along with a tax receipt for your gift. One-hundred percent of your donation goes directly to the initiative you have chosen. If you have given to an endowed student award or program, you will receive an annual report on the state of the endowment and how the funds were used.  We strive to report to our donors in a consistent and accurate manner on the use and impact of their financial contributions.

Fundraising is crucial to the success of our university. Of course it takes money to raise money, and all fundraising operations at the University of Calgary are funded through the operating budget.  We boast an excellent ROI -- our cost is .07 cents for every $1 raised.