It was a stellar year for giving at the University of Lynchburg, with gifts to the University totaling $7.7 million dollars over the course of Fiscal Year 2022.
According to Dr. Mike Bonnette, the University’s vice president for advancement, the total raised during FY22 represents more than $1 million in growth each year for the last three years.
“I’m so appreciative of our alumni and friends who step up each year to support the student experience at the University of Lynchburg,” Bonnette said. “We’re so fortunate to engage with many wonderful donors who are helping us change the world through their gifts.”
Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar, Lynchburg’s president, reported the good news to faculty and staff at the annual Opening Breakfast on Aug. 10. “We are making strides in engaging more folks with the institution through increased use of technology, new events, and this past year, we added 599 new donors,” she said.
“As a part of our Fiscal Year 2022 fundraising efforts, we increased the number of endowed scholarships by 13, totaling $1.3 million, and added five new endowed programmatic support funds at more than $750,000.”
The University’s fundraising priorities over FY22 included scholarships, programmatic support — an endowed fund for men’s lacrosse and a professorship in counseling, for example — and facility enhancements for Hobbs-Sigler Hall and the baseball, softball, tennis, and equestrian programs.
Highlights from FY22 included $200,000 from local businessman and philanthropist Brit LeCompte. Lynchburg’s “first family” endowed a nursing scholarship and a scholarship was established in memory of Lloyd G. Flint Jr. ’41 and his wife, Lorraine Kiley Flint ’43.
Dr. Kathryn Mitchell Pumphrey ’75, ’88 MEd and Richard Pumphrey ’74 endowed a speaker series. The Roger C. Dowdy and Janie Wineman Dowdy Endowment for Initiatives in Peacebuilding through Spirituality and the Arts created a graduate assistant position in the Spiritual Life Center.
A nearly $1 million planned gift was received from the Marcia Ellis Golden ’68 estate, Steve Crank ’73, ’74 MBA established the Rev. Dr. Charles E. Crank, Jr. ’47 and Mrs. Melba C. Crank ’49 Memorial Scholarship Fund, and members of the Lynchburg Alumni Association board funded the Lynchburg Legacy Scholarship.
