Dear Donors,

When you donate to the University of Oregon, where does your money go? This is not clear. Some money, of course, goes to run the UO Foundation, but where does the rest go?

We know a lot of money goes to athletics. The Ducks are a force, and our recent realignment into the Big-10 has amplified our profile. But do athletic donations have academic benefits? In general, no. They could—there could be a small percentage of any athletics donations that went to the academic mission of the university, or a fee, similar to that charged by the UO Foundation, to ensure the academic health of the institution. But currently, donors can give tax-free to UO athletics without any benefit to the mission of the University of Oregon.

Of course, some donors recognize their legacy by donating to the academic mission of the university. Some of these donations are public, and wonderful additions to campus. Many others, however, are shrouded in secrecy and subject to conditions unknowable to the public. It is easy to make such donations sound unnecessarily suspicious, but in order to mitigate political sway and undue influence, reasonable parties can agree some transparency is necessary.

As a donor, the UO Advancement office is likely on your trail. You can help support the mission of the University by considering proposals (or making your own) which benefit the education of students. There are many programs which allow us to better serve students, with real bang for your buck and low administrative overhead. Endowed chairs allow us to increase our reputation by attracting the best scholars, and taking strain off limited resources from tuition and state appropriations. Departments always need extra funds to support summer research, collaborate with the best and brightest around the world, and send students to academic conferences. Or, if you are donating to UO Athletics, you can ask that a portion of your gift go to academic programs.

Your donations really do make a difference! But where and how you specify those donations make a big difference too.

Help us support the mission of the University of Oregon by ensuring a portion of your donation goes to the academics of the institution. If you have ideas about how United Academics of the University of Oregon can better help campus via low-overhead grants to students or faculty, please reach out.