UNM-Taos, Community Tops in Big Give Fundraising
June 21, 2023
Photo by Scott Gerdes
With some staff members in attendance on June 16, UNM Foundation Vice President for Central Development Kristine Mazzei presented an oversized check at Klauer campus. Holding the check from L-R: Louis Moya, Anita Bringas, Mary Gutierrez and Kristine Mazzei.
When it comes to education, money does matter. This year was the first University of New Mexico (UNM) Big Give—an online fundraising event—that included the branch campuses: Taos, Gallup, Los Alamos and Valencia. UNM President Garnett Stokes proposed a challenge to encourage participation: the five UNM Albuquerque units/schools or branches with the highest participation rate would receive an extra $2,500 grant.
When the UNM-Taos campus and Taos County community answered the Big Give call they did so with passionate generosity. Taos was the winner.
“UNM-Taos is powerful because we all pitch in together,” said UNM-Taos Chancellor Mary Gutierrez, Ed.D. “ ‘All hands on deck’ means that all hands are important and valued equally in making a difference for our students and our community.”
UNM Foundation Vice President for Central Development Kristine Mazzei presented an oversized check at Klauer campus on June 16. Flanked by Chancellor Gutierrez, Director of Grants and Institutional Advancement Louis Moya, Strategic Support Manager Anita Bringas and attending staff members, Mazzei let everyone know—in no uncertain terms—that this additional funding is well deserved.
“You guys did an excellent job promoting the Big Give,” Mazzei said. “You blew the other branch campuses out of the water. Thank you for all the effort. You all believed and you made it happen. I am proclaiming your awesomeness.”
In online fundraising, the UNM Foundation shared that the Taos campus brought in $9,325 from 71 transactions and 70 donors with faculty and staff responsible for $2,183 from 40 transactions and 39 donors. One hundred percent of the $2,500 grant went to the Taos Branch Campus Fund bringing the total from the UNM Big Give to $11,825 from 70 donors. The participation numbers, according to the UNM Foundation, break down as follows:
- Taos Branch 14.80% Participation
- UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center 12.50% Participation
- UNM Honors College 11.11% Participation
- UNM Intercollegiate Athletics 8.68% Participation
- UNM College of Pharmacy 6.94% Participation
The UNM-Taos Big Give funds are earmarked for three key programs: Emergency Student Funding, Student Scholarships and the future Observatory and Astronomy Center.
The Big Give started on February 28, at 8 a.m. and concluded on March 1 at 3:30 p.m. The campaign ran for 1,889 minutes (31 hours) in honor of UNM’s founding in 1889.
