The day-to-day operations of the Depression Center require ongoing maintenance and general upkeep so that the facility is clean, comfortable, and accessible for our patients. Funds are needed for maintaining equipment and acquiring new materials to continue to grow our patient resource room and for developing and updating a cutting-edge website to keep patients and consumers informed of the Depression Center’s activities and new evidence-based treatments and therapies. And gifts support the production and printing of our quarterly newsletter, a valuable source of information for patients and providers. All of these are necessary behind-the-scenes activities that need support. An endowment is a permanent fund established for a specific purpose-whether for a faculty member, program support, general operations, or research. Endowed funds are invested for both growth and income and are managed by the University of Colorado Foundation. You may designate the fund in your own name or family’s name, or as tribute to a family member, friend, faculty, or mentor.
Below are four broad types of endowed funds.
- Faculty Endowments - The Depression Center is proud of its outstanding faculty, composed of experts in depression and mood disorders, and members of prestigious academic and scientific organizations. Endowments are the most important and effective way to support faculty, helping to ensure that the Center continues to recruit and retain leading researchers and staff through endowed chairs, professorships, and fellowships.
- Programmatic Endowments - Endowments that support programs and special initiatives at the Depression Center ensure the long-term viability of important, cutting-edge research, treatment, community programs, and education. Endowments help to make the Depression Center the leading provider of mental health programs in the state.
- Patient Treatment or Scholarship Endowments - Establishing a fund to subsidize patient care or delivery of a program to a school or community would help patients and others who cannot afford the full cost of the Depression Center’s specialized consultation, treatments, training, and program implementation.
- Quasi-endowments - During the early stages of development, the Depression Center needs short-term, available funding to support promising research and programming. Donors can see an immediate response with their support. Funds are held in a principal account, and distributions are allocated on a monthly basis. Unlike pure endowments, the principal can be invaded at the fund manager’s discretion.
Donors can direct their support to our major core initiatives or to specific programs such as women’s health, suicide prevention programs, telemedicine outreach to primary care physicians in rural Colorado, website development, facilities and operations, endowment, or school programs.
For more information on how we can best match your interests, please contact the Depression Center at 303-724-4966 or send an email to Nancy Gire. Directing your gift to a project that is important to you connects us to the people that we serve. The Depression Center honors a number of donor groups that contribute important annual support that addresses opportunities and challenges faced every year. Annual fund support strengthens the financial foundation for the Depression Center’s day-to-day activities. These donors and friends are recognized in the Center’s publications and are invited to programs and events hosted by the Center. The Depression Center is grateful for any gift that is donated to support its mission.
Donor Groups include:
Patrons: $250 - $999
Supporters: $1,000 - $2,499
Benefactors: $2,500 – $4,999
Ambassadors: $5,000 - $9,999
Leadership Council: $10,000 or more
The Depression Center and the Friends of the Depression Center group are organizing the 2nd Annual Women and Depression Exchange Program for May 3rd from 6 to 8 pm at the Denver Country Club. Cheryl Chessick, the Depression Center’s Director of Women’s Studies and Treatment, will lead a panel of experts on this year’s theme of Strategies for Wellness. Former First Lady Jeannie Ritter will moderate the conversation about the predictable cycles of depression and anxiety in a woman’s life, strategies to prevent escalation, when to seek help, and the complex but achievable path to wellness. The Friends of the Depression Center is a volunteer group dedicated to ending the stigma of mental health through support of self and community education. The event is free to members of the Friends Group. The annual membership cost is $25. To join online, please visit the CU Foundation’s website and designate your gift to the Friends group. For more information, please contact Nancy Gire at 303-724-4966. The Denver Country Club asks guests to please not use cell phones or PDA’s. Business casual attire, please no jeans. The society recognizes individuals who name the Depression Center as a beneficiary of their will, bequest, or by some other form of planned gift. The Society does not have fees to join or does not require a minimal gift level for participation. While you may remain anonymous, if you prefer, we are pleased to be able to recognize benefactors who support the Center’s future. |
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