Partnering with Advancement

Campus partners who receive donations in person should forward the donation to the Office of Advancement within 48 hours so that the CU Foundation can process and record the gift and issue an official tax receipt and so that the university can thank the donor in a timely manner. When forwarding cash donations, please provide as much contact information for the donors as possible, and at the very least their names and email addresses.

Please note, the Advancement Office and CU Foundation currently cannot process donations through apps like Square and Venmo. However, donors can make gifts through giving.cu.edu, which is a mobile-friendly website. 

Special Gift Handling During Remote Work

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While much of the campus works remotely owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Please ask donors to send gifts directly to the CU Foundation in order to be processed in a timely fashion.

1. Online giving at www.giving.cu.edu
Gifts can be made to any fund using the “write-in option” 
giving.cu.edu/fund/write-fund

2. Wire transfer to CU Foundation
giving.cu.edu/wire-funds-cu-foundation
This may be the best option for corporate or foundation donors. They can also call CU Foundation Gifts directly to make gifts over the phone (303-541-1290).

3. Send checks directly to CU Foundation by mail: 
University of Colorado Foundation
P.O. Box 17126
Denver, CO 80217-9155

 

Accepting Donations at Events

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If you've accepted donations at a university event, please bring the donations to the Advancement Office (12th floor of the Lawrence Street Center) no later than 48 hours after your event in order for the CU Foundation compliance department to record and process the gifts and so we can thank the donors in a timely manner.

If you received cash donations please provide as much donor information as possible. Even a name and email address will help us keep track of donations and thank donors appropriately on your behalf.

Currently, the Advancement Office/CU Foundation is unable to accept credit card donations in person at events through apps like Square or Venmo. You do have a few options, though, for accepting donations in person at events:

Giving.cu.edu is a mobile friendly website, so donors can give using their phones at your event. We suggest putting your giving link on all of your event materials to help encourage gifts.

Bring remit envelopes or giving postcards, which the Advancement Office can work with you to produce, to the event. (See the Gift Envelopes section below.)

  

Donations Through Facebook

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The University of Colorado is not able to accept gifts made through Facebook. This is because all gifts to any CU entity are accepted through the CU Foundation, which has just one tax ID. Facebook will only let one organization per tax ID register, therefore we cannot register individual program funds in Facebook and would not be able to determine which program the funds are intended to support if they are directed simply to the CU Foundation on Facebook.

If you would like to conduct a fundraising campaign online, please consider using Milo’s Crowd instead. Information about this platform is available in the Crowdfunding section below.

Questions?

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If you have any questions, please email the Office of Advancement.

Alumni engagement is a highly valued priority for the University of Colorado, and with good reason – alumni play an indispensable role in supporting the university’s mission in many ways.

 

If you are interested in engaging your school, college, or unit alumni, we are here to help. We can work with you to create in-person and virtual activities that strengthen alumni relationships with your unit and with the university overall.

 

Note: If you are interested in simply communicating out to alumni, please see the “Communications” section below.

 

Swag Request: We are happy to work with you to provide swag for alumni visiting campus. Here is a swag request form. Please submit at least five days prior to the need-by date.

 

Contact

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Lauren Jacobs

Associate Director, Alumni Engagement

303-315-3601

Email Lauren  

Communicating with Alumni

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The Office of Advancement communicates regularly with alumni, generally to promote alumni activities, benefits, and resources. Additionally, all CU Denver alumni receive City Stories, the e-periodical produced by University Communications.

If you are interested in communicating with alumni, we are happy to discuss strategies and best practices with you.

Please note that in order to comply with CAN SPAM laws and CU policies, we are not able to provide lists of alumni emails. If you would like to email alumni, we recommend you connect with your unit's communicator, who can support mass emails (10+ recipients) to the desired alumni population.

Communicating with Donors

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If you are interested in communicating with donors, we would like to work with you. Donor relationships with the university are often managed by our Major Gifts team, and we suggest you contact the Director of Development responsible for your school or college to discuss your interest in communicating with donors in order to determine the best approach. If your campus unit does not reside within a school or college, please contact our office at 303-315-3601 or advancement@ucdenver.edu, and we'll route your request accordingly.

If you would like to communicate more broadly with donors, for an appeal or invitation, for example, please complete this request form so we can best provide the support you need.

Here is a flow chart detailing the data exchange process that is involved in emailing donors or a highly customized alumni list.

Contacts

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Jim Dunn
Senior Director, Advancement Communications
303-315-3601
Email Jim

Monica Cutler
Associate Director, Advancement Communications
303-315-3601
Email Monica

CU Denver Crowdfunding, also known as Milo's Crowd, is an online fundraising platform that allows CU Denver individuals and organizations to create and share fundraising campaigns with an engaged community. Our tools empower the CU Denver community to come together and create lasting impact on things you care about.

One of the key components of a successful crowdfunding campaign is a solid marketing strategy. Our planning guide and marketing guide can help you develop a strategy to raise the funds you need.

Contact

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Jennifer Dailey
Assistant Director, Annual Giving
303-315-3601
Email Jenn

 

If you would like to request data related to alumni or donors, such as degree information, mailing addresses, or donors to funds for a project related to fundraising or engagement, please use this data policy and request form and a member of the Donor and Alumni Relations team will follow up with you.

Please Note:

In order to comply with CAN SPAM laws and CU policies, we are not able to provide lists of alumni emails. If you would like to email alumni, we recommend you connect with your unit's communicator, who can support mass emails (10+ recipients) to the desired alumni population. 

Data provided by the Office of Advancement is confidential and should only be utilized for purposes related to engagement, cultivation, and stewardship. Data should not be stored digitally or in hard copy and should be destroyed after use. Data is not meant to be shared and should be utilized only by the requester.

Questions?

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If you have any questions, please email the Office of Advancement.

If you are interested in planning an event for donors or alumni, we would be pleased to partner with you. We work with campus partners on unit-specific events or other one-off events on a case-by-case basis depending on capacity, budget, and strategic objectives.

Please note that the Office of Advancement can only consider committing resources (both staff and budgetary) to events that have a clear and measurable fundraising or alumni relations purpose. As events are generally not the most cost-effective way to raise funds, most events on which we partner are donor stewardship and alumni engagement events. 

The Office of Advancement can provide support in creating the event invitation (both print and email); developing guest lists; planning event logistics, décor, and menus; requesting campus leadership attendance; tracking RSVPs; conducting event follow-up; and various other functions related to event planning and execution.

Please note that all requests for event support must be presented to the Advancement Leadership Group no later than 90 days prior to the event date.

To request event support, please do the following:

1. Review the Office of Advancement standard operating procedure for requesting event support.
   
2. Submit an event request form.

Note: If you plan to accept donations at your event, please review the Accepting and Processing Donations section above.

Contact

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Katie Comer
Assistant Director, Events & Engagement
Email Katie

If you are interested in pursuing support from corporate or foundation funding sources for a program, please consult with the member of our Major Gifts team responsible for your school or college. The Director of Development may ask you to partner with the Director of Foundation and Corporate Development, who has expertise in working with local and national foundations and corporations and can help you navigate giving guidelines, application procedures, and foundation and corporate contacts.

If your unit is not part of a school or college, please feel free to contact the Director of Foundation and Corporate Development directly.

Contact

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Anna Ramirez Crawford
Director, Foundation and Corporate Development
303-315-3601
Email Anna

When donors invest in CU Denver students and programs, they expect their contributions to make an impact. Effective management of philanthropic funds is essential to ensuring we achieve the desired impact and can report back to donors on the difference they have made.  

The Office of Advancement generally takes responsibility for reporting philanthropic impact back to donors and relies on campus partners to provide an accounting of how contributed funds have been utilized.

While responsibility for raising funds falls primarily within the Office of Advancement, responsibility for spending these funds in accordance with donor intent lies with our campus partners, including deans, fund managers, faculty, and program managers.

Fund agreements provide the parameters around the use of contributed funds and often stipulate the extent to which donors wish to be informed of their desired impact. If you have questions about a fund agreement or criteria for spending, contact the Assistant Director of Donor Engagement.

Visit the CU Foundation website for more information about fund management.

Contact

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Melissa Carrera
Senior Director, Donor and Alumni Engagement
303-315-3601
Email Melissa

The Office of Advancement keeps a supply of postage-paid, CU Denver-branded remit envelopes that facilitate donations by cash, check, or credit card. These envelopes include space for a label that can list your program or project to ensure donations are directed to the correct fund. The Office of Advancement can provide campus partners with 25 envelopes per project. Additional envelopes are available at a rate of $25 for a pack of 25. 

If you would like a customized remit envelope specific to your program or project, the Office of Advancement can create one for you that adheres to CU Foundation standards. In order to allow enough time for design, approvals, and printing, the Office of Advancement will need any customized content at least 8 weeks prior to your solicitation date. Campus partners are responsible for printing costs (approximately $2.25 per envelope for an order of 500), which are charged to a speedtype provided by the campus partner. 

Alternatively, the Office of Advancement can provide you a customized postcard design that directs donors to your specific fund on the giving.cu.edu website. The postcards are designed to print four to a page and delivered as a PDF so you can print whatever quantity you require. If your fund is not currently listed on the giving.cu.edu website, we can work with you to list it and generate a unique URL. 

Contact

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Jennifer Dailey
Assistant Director, Annual Giving
303-315-3601
Email Jenn

Donors can make gifts to CU Denver funds through the giving.cu.edu website. Given the larger number of funds from across the CU system that exist on the site, only certain funds can remain listed on the site permanently. The Vice Chancellor for Advancement can designate which campus funds remain on the site permanently. Additionally, schools and colleges can designate 3-5 permanent funds, and departments, programs, and centers can designate 1-2 permanent funds, all subject to dean’s approval. 

Campus partners can request to list other funds on the giving website. “Active” funds remain on the site and accessible via direct link for one year from the date of first request. “Visible” funds are Active funds that are also visible and searchable on the site. Funds remain Visible for a term of 60 days per request (some exceptions apply). If a fund becomes inactive on the website, a reactivation request must be made to restore it on the site and make it Active for another year.

If you would like to list a fund on the CU giving website, please contact your school’s or college’s Director of Development or Jenn Dailey, Assistant Director of Annual Giving. 

The Office of Advancement can also provide campus partners with a postcard template with which to publicize the URL for a certain fund on the giving website. 

Contact

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Jennifer Dailey
Assistant Director, Annual Giving
303-315-3601
Email Jenn

 

If you would like to pursue philanthropic support for a program or project, we are happy to help. A Director of Development in the Office of Advancement works with each CU Denver school and college to coordinate fundraising activities in support of school and college priorities. You can view a list of Directors of Development here. 

Typically, the fundraising support provided by the Office of Advancement to our schools and colleges is outlined each year in a memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the Deans and Advancement. A conversation with your Dean and Development Director is the best place to start discussing how funding for your program aligns with your school’s or college’s funding priorities.

If your program has significant potential for philanthropic support through major gifts (i.e., gifts of $25,000 and above), the Director of Development working with your school or college will partner with you and your Dean to identify, speak with, and solicit potential donors.

If your program is more likely to attract a collection of smaller gifts, the Director of Development may recommend that you create a crowdfunding campaign as described in the "Crowdfunding" section above. 

Scholarships account for a large portion of the philanthropic support provided to our campus, and connecting students to the donors who funded their scholarships is an impactful and valued part of donor stewardship.

The Office of Advancement reports regularly to donors on the distribution of their scholarship funds, often providing a list of recipients and award totals. 

In most cases, students who receive scholarships are asked to write donors thank you letters, which the Office of Advancement forwards to donors. Occasionally, students will also meet personally with their scholarship donors at scholarship recognition events or less formally, depending on the donor's preferences.

Students wishing to apply for scholarships can find more information at ScholarLynx. 

Contact

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Melissa Carrera
Senior Director, Donor and Alumni Engagement
303-315-3601
Email Melissa