According to "Giving USA 2009: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2008" published by the GivingUSA Foundation, overall charitable giving in the U.S. decreased by 2 percent in 2008, and gifts to educational organizations nationwide are expected to drop 5.5 percent in 2008-09.

Paul J. Adamo, SUNY Oneonta Vice President for College Advancement and Executive Director of the College at Oneonta Foundation, attributed the College’s strong showing to the generosity of alumni and friends of SUNY Oneonta and their belief in the College’s mission.

"Our graduates and friends recognize that charitable investments in our College can provide life-altering opportunities for our students, our communities, and our shared future," said Adamo.

In the course of the last fiscal year, the College received gifts from more than 6,400 alumni and friends, including $2 million for scholarships from the estate of 1936 graduate Dorothy Wemple, the largest-ever gift from a SUNY Oneonta graduate. Over the past three years, the College has received at least one gift from 23% of its graduates. For seven successive years, SUNY Oneonta has led all similar SUNY colleges in the percentage of alumni who make a gift to their alma mater.

All gifts to the College now go through the Fund for Oneonta, which coordinates giving from alumni, faculty, staff, parents, friends, foundations, organizations, businesses, and others to provide the greatest possible support for SUNY Oneonta students. Charitable gifts are used to create new scholarships, expand existing scholarship opportunities, fund lectures and cultural offerings, support student and faculty research, and enhance the academic experience at SUNY Oneonta.

This year, SUNY Oneonta will offer over 1,000 scholarship awards to deserving students for the first time in its history. The collective value of the 1,057 scholarship awards will total $1,764,276.

The 2008-2009 fiscal year also proved successful for the College’s current fundraising campaign, Visions/Solutions: The Fund for Science and Technology, the first-ever initiative to target a specific cluster of academic disciplines at SUNY Oneonta. At the close of the fiscal year, the fund had received $2.4 toward its goal of $4 million by July 2010.

The Fund for Science and Technology was created to help the College address the growing roles that science and technology play in today’s world. Through the fund, the College is expanding scholarship opportunities for students pursuing degrees in science and technology and enhancing the science and technology literacy of all students.

Charitable giving to SUNY Oneonta is coordinated through the College at Oneonta Foundation, a non-profit organization that facilitates charitable giving to the College and manages the College’s endowment. Established in 1982, the Foundation uses sound fiscal policies to invest and allocate assets. Many scholarships at SUNY Oneonta are endowed, so the principal funds used to establish them are preserved in perpetuity.

More information about The Fund for Oneonta, The Fund for Science and Technology, and the College at Oneonta Foundation is available from Paul Adamo at (607) 436-2535.