Reflecting on Your Generosity
I am thrilled to present the University of Tennessee Foundation annual report and not only share the successes, but the significance of donor support and engagement on our campuses and institutes within the UT System.
Fiscal year 2022 was a reflection of progress, connection and generosity. Our alumni, donors and friends were passionately committed to the University of Tennessee, and our staff embraced that commitment with purposefulness and innovation.
Your support led to a record-breaking year, with over 75,000 donors creating transformational change throughout the UT System. The impact of your generosity is reflected in the success of our students that have opportunity where they once did not, in the faculty and staff guiding those students in their education and in the research changing the lives of Tennesseans and beyond.
Your dedication to the University of Tennessee inspires others, including me. Thank you for staying connected and supporting the world class programs found throughout our campuses in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Martin, Memphis and Pulaski.
Kerry Witcher
President and CEO
University of Tennessee Foundation
UT Foundation Vision for 2025
Our vision is to be recognized as one of the top performing advancement organizations affiliated with
any university system. Three objectives are at the core of this vision:
1. Enhance philanthropic support for the University of Tennessee System and its core institutional
priorities.
2. Expand constituent engagement by developing meaningful relationships with University of Tennessee alumni, students and friends.
3. Build and protect the UT brand dedicated to the
mission of discovery, education and connection.
Fundraising
UT is preparing the next generation of problem solvers, innovators and connectors who will tackle the world’s grand challenges. In fiscal year 2022, a record-breaking number of donors opened doors to this unparalleled educational experience, and their generosity will be revealed along the walkways of our campuses, down the highways and byways of our state and throughout the far reaches of our country and beyond.
Total Gifts in 2022 = $314,290,539
Bequests
The Foundation has booked $71,268,031 in bequest expectancies in FY22.
Insurance
The Foundation has $1M in outstanding insurance policies and $12M in university outstanding insurance policies as of June 30, 2022 on in-force policies.
Real Estate
9 total properties owned with appraised value of $5,000,000.
ACQUIRED
4 properties with appraised value of $1,100,000.
SOLD
9 properties with a contract price of $3,400,000.
FOR SALE
3 properties with an appraised value of $827,000.
UT Martin Spotlight
UT Martin received the required state match to design and construct a new state-of-the-art College of Business and Global Affairs building. The new building will be constructed on the east
end of the campus Quad. The $3 million commitment will allow the second academic building to be built in the past 40 years.
Donations by Size
Together, gifts of all sizes combine and create a lasting impact as it sparks aspirations throughout the UT System.
Online Giving
Average Online Gift: $135.88
UT Knoxville Spotlight
Knoxville-based advertising agency, Tombras, partnered with UT Knoxville to create a first-of-its-kind landmark program to expand advertising and public relations education. The Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations is the first named school at UT Knoxville, the first named school of advertising and public relations among all land-grant institutions in the country, and the first of its kind in the SEC.
Online Giving Growth Over Five Years
Systemwide Online Dollars Raised
- FY16: $2,259,687.50
- FY17: $2,707,202.38
- FY18: $3,250,351.64
- FY19: $3,632,555.80
- FY20: $4,281,582.76
- FY21: $6,287,744.54
- FY22: $6,671,511.57 (+6.1%)
Systemwide Online Transactions
- FY16: 11,814
- FY17: 14,901
- FY18: 20,158
- FY19: 27,738
- FY20: 33,372
- FY21: 43,081
- FY22: 49,099 (+14.0%)
Giving Dy Comparisons FY21 - FY22
- Big Orange Give: up 41% in online gifts; up 22% in online donors
- Mocs Give Day: up 21% in online gifts; up 14% in online donors
- Captain’s Challenge: up 21% in online gifts; up 8% in online donors
- UTHSC Giving Day: up 30% in online gifts; up 26% in online donors
UT Health Science Center Spotlight
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center set new records with its second annual UTHSC Giving Day on April 26, 2022. The campaign raised $600,000 from over 1,300 donors to support scholarships, bolster programming and build healthier communities. On-campus activities generated awareness and excitement that resulted in significantly increased participation from students and other internal stakeholders.
Alumni Engagement
Number of Alumni: 429,591
A collaborative effort between the alumni offices around the Foundation led to the launch of Connect UT, an exclusive networking platform for UT System alumni.
Connect UT provides a virtual space for alumni to engage in career focused conversations with one another, develop connections with campus partners and provide professional development and mentorships with students and young
alumni.
Through the launch of the platform, just under 3,000 alumni from across the UT System have registered, and 74% of registrants
have indicated they are willing to help in some capacity. Alumni have indicated they are open to talking about their career path, mentoring, serving as a guest speaker, critiquing resumes
or setting up a mock interview.
Connect UT has provided a new way to reach alumni and help connect them with the university, while also providing an invaluable service through the power of their UT network. The platform will continue to grow in fiscal year 2023 with current students invited to join, establishing a connection that will continue as they transition from student to alum.
UT Chattanooga Spotlight
A $1.5 million gift from the Jack and Charlotte Frost Family Foundation established a new Frost Family Investment Fund. The fund supports the Veterans Entrepreneurship Alumni Program, skills and support for startup businesses in underserved areas and undergraduate scholarships for students who are either military veterans, the children of veterans, the children of first responders or currently enrolled in ROTC.
Advocacy
The Advocacy Network is the University of Tennessee’s official grassroots effort. The Network includes thousands of alumni, employees, students and friends who believe in the university’s value to all Tennesseans and share that message with elected officials.
Number of Advocates: 8,143
Number of New Advocates in FY 2022: 492
UT Martin Spotlight
UT Martin’s Black Alumni Council raised $25,000 during the council’s inaugural scholarship fundraising gala on June 25 in Memphis. The gala, themed “A Salute to Black Excellence,” served over 100 guests and successfully endowed the Black Alumni Scholarship.
UT Knoxville Spotlight
Dwight Hutchins pledged a planned gift of more than $10 million to support the Fred D. Brown Jr. Minority Engineering Scholarship. The scholarship program was established in the Tickle College of Engineering to help support engineering students from historically underrepresented populations. It honors Brown, who served from 1975 to 1985 as the first director of the college office now known as the Office of Diversity Programs.
Foundation Operations
The University of Tennessee Foundation, Inc. is an interdependent not-for-profit 501(c)3 created in 2001. UTFI gained legislative approval in 2011 to become a proactive fundraising organization and the preferred channel for all private contributions benefitting the University of Tennessee.
The Foundation works closely with the University of Tennessee president and each campus chancellor to identify strategic private support priorities, create fundraising strategies and implement development programs.
Staff Size
243
Staff Size: 243
UTHSC: 26
UTK: 124
UTM: 16
UTS: 3
Central: 59
Job Family Breakdown
Job Family Breakdown
Communications & Donor Experience: 12%
Development: 42%
Administration & Finance: 30%
Advancement Services: 8%
UT Chattanooga Spotlight
In addition to the groundbreaking of the $34 million Wolford Family Athletic Center boosting a 37,500-square-foot addition and 23,000 square feet renovation to McKenzie Arena, the Mocs Club had a recording breaking year increasing its membership more than 220 percent, securing $714,627 and increasing the Mocs Club impact by nearly 40 percent.
UTFI Compensation Review
The UT Foundation aspires to be recognized as one of the top performing advancement organizations affiliated with any university system in higher education. At the very core of this goal are the people who are building the philanthropic and engagement strategies to create lifelong relationships with alumni, donors and friends.
To retain and reward our top performing staff, the compensation philosophy of our organization must be competitive with institutional peers, as well as within local markets. Through this desire, UTFI embarked on a review of the total compensation strategy with Pearl Meyer, a leader in compensation advisory services.
Pearl Meyer reviewed UT Foundation’s existing salary structure and analyzed it against current market ranges and practices. Guiding this review and subsequent changes were the following principles:
» Offer industry and nationally market-based total compensation to effectively enable UTFI to attract, engage and retain top talent to meet its strategic goals and expand its mission.
» Set and manage salary levels in a balance between internal equity and external competitiveness.
» Emphasize a collaborative culture and an efficient and effective structure, shared performance expectations, interchangeable accountabilities and enterprise-level performance outcomes.
» Use performance-based compensation tied to measures that quantify the mission of the organization, advance the impact of the UT System, and enhance long-term alumni and donor relationships and engagement.
» Align people with critical organizational goals so earned compensation is based on high levels of defined and expected performance.
» Adopt standards and ensure that compensation is managed to be reasonable and equitable, which attains the highest corporate governance and regulatory standards.
At the core, the new salary program utilizes grades that provide a range of pay for positions. An individual’s pay within the range is based on their knowledge, skills, experience and performance. Updated salary grades for UTFI positions were created utilizing best practices and based on market data from a 2021 study. Employees were educated on the salary program and their position’s salary grade in June 2022.
Moving forward, we will monitor market data and trends in overall compensation to remain competitive in recruitment and continue to retain a top tier advancement team.
CRM Review and Investment
Fiscal Year 2022 brought the UT Foundation closer to the realization of a new constituent relationship management tool (CRM) to replace ANDI as the mission-critical data system for development. This system houses alumni and donor information, prospect development tracking, online giving processing and drives nearly all Foundation fundraising and engagement efforts.
After a year-long evaluation process, including a comprehensive needs assessment with feedback from 125+ key stakeholders, more than 60 hours of vendor demos, conversations with colleagues at two dozen peer institutions, and 350+ survey responses, the CRM Evaluation Committee recommended Salesforce and UC Innovation’s Ascend platform to replace ANDI, the current and outdated system.
This investment was presented to the UT Foundation Board of Directors during their November 2021 meeting, where it was noted that he leadership and evaluation committee selected the preferred CRM
solution and implementation partner to satisfy the Foundation’s strategic goals. The investment was moved, seconded and approved.
UTFI staff entered a naming contest for the new platform, and after the CRM Committee narrowed the list to nine choices, more than 60% of staff cast their votes. ACE: Alumni & Constituent Engagement was the winner.
The implementation timeline, which began on February 1, 2022, includes ten separate sprints, which are short periods of time where the development team works to complete specific milestones. These sprints are being executed by many Foundation staff who are committed to supporting essential fundraising, engagement and advocacy efforts through the process. The process is anticipated to last two years, and once fully implemented, ACE will significantly change the everyday operations of the UT Foundation.
UT Foundation Board of Directors
Philip A. Wenk, Chair
Ronald E. Frieson, Vice Chair
Kerry W. Witcher, President and CEO
Randal D. Boyd, University President
Hans N. Airee
Isaac E. Bennett
Alexis G. Bogo
Christopher B. Bollinger
Phillip A. Clendenin
Gregory E. Cox
Kimberly W. Cross
Robert F. Decosimo
Judith A. Herbert
Renee B. Iacona
Deborah A. Ingram
Mark D. La Branche
Kathy W. Ledbetter
Donde A. Plowman
Timothy L. Tucker
Charles A. Wagner III
Richard F. Warren
Jamie R. Woodson
2022 Annual Report
