The year in numbers
Fiscal year 2026 ran from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Every figure on this page covers gifts received by the UW–Porter Falls Foundation in that year. Pledges are counted when they are paid, not when they are signed.
| Measure | FY2026 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Gifts received | $6.4 million | $5.7 million |
| Donors | 5,180 | 4,710 |
| First-time donors | 1,137 | 842 |
| Alumni donors (share of about 52,000 living alumni) | 3,310 (6.4%) | 2,980 (5.8%) |
| Median gift | $75 | $70 |
| Transferred to the university for scholarships, equipment and programs | $5.1 million | $4.6 million |
| Endowment market value, June 30 | $71.8 million | $66.2 million |
| Cost to raise a dollar | 11 cents | 12 cents |
The single biggest day was the April Ironclad Giving Day, which raised $1,184,320 from 3,947 donors, 612 of them first-timers. Four out of five gifts all year were under $250.
Who gave
| Donor group | Donors |
|---|---|
| Alumni | 3,310 |
| Current and retired faculty and staff (including the Millwright Society) | 610 |
| Friends and community members | 590 |
| Parents and families of students | 520 |
| Businesses, foundations and organizations | 150 |
| Total | 5,180 |
The 1,312 members of the Ironclad Club are counted in the groups above, not separately. Thirty-eight people told the Foundation for the first time that Porter is in their will, which makes them members of the 1893 Society; the planned giving page explains how that works.
Where the gifts went
| Purpose | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent endowment (new funds and additions to existing ones) | $1,980,000 | 30.9% |
| Current-use scholarships | $1,640,000 | 25.6% |
| Labs and equipment | $860,000 | 13.4% |
| “Built for Work” campaign building projects | $560,000 | 8.8% |
| Athletics, including Ironclad Club dues of $186,400 | $520,000 | 8.1% |
| Student support: emergency fund, food pantry, First-Generation Student Center | $410,000 | 6.4% |
| Unrestricted: the Chancellor’s Fund for Excellence | $300,000 | 4.7% |
| Faculty development, programs and other | $130,000 | 2.0% |
| Total | $6,400,000 | 99.9% (rounding) |
The campaign, “Built for Work,” stood at $29.6 million of its $42 million goal on September 30, 2026. Campaign totals include multi-year pledges, so they run ahead of the cash figures above. What the campaign is paying for is on capital campaign and naming opportunities.
The endowment
The endowment is the collection of permanent funds whose principal is invested and never spent. It grew from $66.2 million to $71.8 million over the year. That figure is $1.98 million in new gifts plus a 9.9 percent investment return after fees, minus what was paid out.
The Foundation board’s spending policy pays out 4.25 percent of the average market value over the last twelve quarters. Averaging over three years keeps scholarship amounts from swinging with one bad market. In FY2026 the payout was $2.93 million:
- $1.84 million to endowed scholarships
- $460,000 to endowed lab, program and equipment funds
- $380,000 to endowed professorships and faculty development
- $250,000 to other endowed purposes, including lecture series and library collections
There are now 412 separate endowed funds. A named endowed scholarship starts at $50,000 and can be paid over five years. A small slice of the endowment is managed by business students through the student-managed fund, under the same investment committee.
Scholarships and student support
- 1,094 students, about 13 percent of the 8,412 enrolled, received at least one Foundation scholarship in 2025–26. Together the awards came to $3.48 million: $1.64 million in current-use gifts plus $1.84 million from the endowment. The average award was $3,180.
- 344 emergency grants from the student emergency fund, for $151,200 in all. The median grant was $380. The most common reasons were car repairs, a lost shift and rent.
- 41 student conference trips and the first year of expanded paid co-op stipends came out of the Chancellor’s Fund for Excellence.
- Twelve full-tuition manufacturing scholarships start this fall, funded by the alumni couple’s endowment announced in February.
Stories in brief
A few of the things donors paid for, as described in the thank-you reports the Foundation sends to each fund’s donors:
- A $612 emergency grant replaced the transmission in a third-year nursing student’s car three days before her clinical rotation in Tamarack. She finished the rotation.
- The Formula Solar team rebuilt its battery pack with $14,800 from the equipment fund and finished a regional endurance event for the first time in four years.
- The simulation hospital replaced a 2011 patient manikin whose replacement parts are no longer made.
- A class gift from the class of 1975 at its 50th reunion bought a new surface grinder for the Founders Hall machine shop, installed next to the one they learned on.
- The food pantry stayed open over winter break for the first time, at a cost of $9,200.
“The headline number went up, and we are grateful for it. The number I watch is the median gift: seventy-five dollars. This place runs on a lot of people giving what they can.”
— Hollis Vang, vice chancellor for university advancement
How this report is put together
Figures come from the Foundation’s gift records and are unaudited as of October 2026. The independent audit of the Foundation’s FY2026 financial statements will be posted in November, once the board’s audit committee accepts it. If an audited figure differs from one here, this page will be corrected and the change noted at the bottom. Donors who want a report on a specific fund can ask the Foundation; the give page lists the main funds.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This impact report, its donors, dollar figures, endowment returns and grant stories are invented; no gift was received, invested or spent, and no student’s transmission was replaced.