Giving to UNM-Taos

The UNM-Taos branch campus serves a diverse group of students from Northern New Mexico by providing them with comprehensive educational opportunities that help equip them to successfully move on to the next stages of their lives—whether its transferring to a 4-year university or obtaining valuable industry certifications and training for their entry into the workforce.

Our programs support our regional economy in a number of ways; generating skilled nurses and other health industry workers for staffing at Holy Cross Hospital and other community health organizations; or creating effective filmmakers and film industry workers who produce digital media for our state’s agencies, institutions, and organizations—including pueblos. Across many industries, UNM-Taos is instrumental in the development of a skilled workforce.

We could not successfully accomplish our mission without the generous support of our donors. Gifts to UNM-Taos serve an essential role in helping students meet their financial needs—whether they are foreseeable academic costs or unanticipated emergencies that generate obstacles to their academic progress.

Please consider supporting one or more of our fundraising priorities using the links below to make a tax-deductible gift via credit card or online payment through our partner, the UNM Foundation, Inc.

UNM-Taos Branch Campus Fund

This fundraising priority provides discretionary funds to support the college’s mission, programs, and activities. The funds are used by the college to augment indirect program costs and to fund pilot projects of faculty and individual academic programs. They also support release-time costs related to creating extra-curricular programming with faculty support, and provide funding for facility maintenance and repair, supplies, student help, equipment, travel, and project budget overruns.

Career Technical Education Development Fund

This fundraising priority supports program development for current and prospective Career Technical Education students for certificate and degree programs (curriculum, instruction, equipment and supplies) in technical and vocational professions. Funds will also provide support for our anticipated design and remodel of a new CTE Center, located in the former National Guard Armory adjacent to the Klauer Campus.

Cielo Centro Observatory Fund

Gifts to this fund help support the first-phase design, development and construction of the UNM-Taos Cielo Centro Observatory. The site will house our 36-inch Dobsonian Telescope (a gift to the college) in an observatory building and attached amphitheater—giving UNM-Taos the largest publicly available telescope in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

These funds will also support second-phase development of a Space STEM building that will host programming intended to strengthen Secondary to Post-Secondary Pathways in STEM. These facilities will be a resource for area schools and the general public (for specific events). The associated Astronomy and STEM programming will provide the college with a unique opportunity to expand and improve outreach, presentation, study, and preservation of one of the world’s most precious natural resources: the night sky.

Student Emergency Relief Fund

This emergency relief program helps our students address issues that create barriers to college completion. Every semester, there are many students who find themselves in an emergency where they have an immediate and exigent need for funding to resolve obstacles that impact their financial situation (such as an unanticipated cost related to home or vehicle repairs, utility bills, transportation costs, medical expenses or food).

Grants are awarded via an application with an established set of criteria and required documentation, where students may apply if they can demonstrate that this financial obstacle will impact their ability to successfully pursue academic credentialing. Gifts to this program provide valuable resources to help impacted students overcome short-term obstacles and graduate from college in the long-term.

Giving Events

Every year, UNM-Taos, in partnership with the UNM Foundation, hosts two public fundraising campaigns that engage the entire UNM community in a scheduled and coordinated day (or series of days) of giving where university staff, faculty, students, and donors come together to make a positive impact and show their support to the university by making a gift to a specific school, college or program:

In the weeks prior to each campaign event, UNM-Taos will send out information via email and social media to inform the public about the events and provide information on ways to support the campus. Some university units—such as UNM-Taos—host specific campus events to celebrate these activities.

UNM Big Give
Occurs during the Spring semester

#GivingTuesday
Occurs during the Fall semester

UNM Foundation Funds

There are several other UNM-Taos-related program funds held at the UNM Foundation that provide resources to support additional academic student, faculty or campus programs, student scholarships or college/community activities.