What it is
The UW–Porter Falls Foundation is the separate, non-profit organization that raises and holds private gifts for the university. Keeping it legally distinct is standard practice: it lets donors give with confidence that a gift restricted to, say, nursing scholarships cannot be redirected to a budget shortfall, and it is governed by its own volunteer board with an independent annual audit. Every gift, from five dollars to an endowed chair, runs through the Foundation and is tax-deductible.
Where gifts go
Private giving funds the things tuition and state support do not stretch to cover: need- and merit-based scholarships, the student emergency fund for a crisis that would otherwise end an enrollment, undergraduate research stipends and conference travel, competition teams, equipment and lab upgrades ahead of the replacement cycle, faculty development and endowed positions, study-abroad and internship support for students who could not afford the gap, and building projects. Donors can direct a gift to a specific college, program, or fund, or give unrestricted so the university can put it where the need is sharpest that year.
Ways to give
One-time gifts by card, check, or online; recurring monthly gifts (the way most sustaining donors give); gifts of appreciated stock and mutual funds, which can carry a tax advantage over cash; donor-advised fund grants; qualified charitable distributions from an IRA for donors over the threshold age; employer matching gifts, which can double the impact; and planned gifts — a bequest in a will, a beneficiary designation, or a charitable gift annuity that pays the donor income for life. Named scholarships and endowed funds can be established at a set minimum, funded over several years.
Stewardship and transparency
The Foundation issues a tax receipt for every gift, honors donor restrictions as a legal obligation, and reports back on how restricted funds were used — scholarship recipients often write to the donors who funded them. It publishes independently audited financial statements and a report on total giving, endowment performance, and expenditures each year. Questions about a specific fund, a pledge, or how to structure a gift go to the Foundation's development staff, who do not work on commission.
Questions?
See the full staff & office directory for any phone number or email. Because this is a fictional parody site, addresses and phone numbers are illustrative and do not reach a real university.