To make a gift
Make a gift to the College of Liberal Arts online.
For more information on ways to give, contact the CLA development staff.
Scholarship campaign: The promise of tomorrow
Philanthropy with vision: Donor profiles from CLA Today
Contact the CLA External Relations Development Staff
Making a Gift to CLA
The CLA Office of External Relations works collaboratively with the University of Minnesota Foundation. Founded in 1962, the Foundation exists solely to advance the U of M's mission of teaching, research and public outreach.
The College of Liberal Arts set an ambitious goal of $75 million at the start of Campaign Minnesota in 1998. By the end of the campaign, the college had exceeded that goal and raised over $90 million for scholarships, fellowships, and endowments to support both the college's students and faculty.
The faculty, students, staff, and leadership of the college are very grateful for the overwhelming support of our alumni and friends. Yet we still have many pressing high-priority needs, including funding for scholarships, that will not be met by state funding alone—especially as the state responds to economic stresses by slashing appropriations for public higher education in Minnesota.
Continuing drastic cuts to higher education could otherwise put at risk the enormous gains we have made in recent years. Private giving can help us both maintain the excellence of our programs and ensure students' continued access to those programs.
Scholarships in action
- Discovering CLA
- Part I Projections
- Scholarships at Work
- Part II Projections
- Changing Lives
- Part III Projections
On this page:
Why Give?
and scholarship recipient Sarah Wigley
- To make a difference in the lives of today's students
"Almost anyone beginning to pursue a career in the fine arts will tell you that this path feels very unstable at times. Scholarships enable passionate performers to give their goals the attention they deserve and to stop dreading the financial outcome of going after their dreams.
The Heim Scholarship helped to make all of this possible for me. It is a great honor. I am very grateful to the scholarship's generous donor, Ann Shainline. Without people like her, the performing arts community would not be the same."
- In gratitude for providing you with preparation for life
- A passion for a particular teaching, research, or outreach program
- A wish to honor or memorialize someone you love
- To help today's student balance the need to work against time spent to study (48% of students currently work 20+ hours a week)
“Because of my scholarships and financial aid, I have been able to take advantage of more opportunities and get better grades than if I had been forced to work full time while pursuing a college education.”
Supporting Students
We believe that the most promising undergraduate students should be able to pursue a University of Minnesota education and to take full advantage of all the rich opportunities the college has to offer, regardless of means.
And we believe that attracting the nation's best graduate students is crucial to preserving and building the quality and international stature of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) and the University. Support for undergraduate scholarships and internships, for study abroad, and for graduate fellowships is one of CLA's highest priorities.
Supporting Strategic Initiatives
The CLA Fund is the College's primary operating account which provides for the immediate funding of projects critical to the College's vision of "centers of excellence." In the rich intellectual and creative environment of CLA, we learn to expect the unexpected—the breakthroughs, the paradigm-busting ideas, those defining moments that must be captured lest the opportunity pass.
With strategic initiative funds, CLA can support innovation and creativity by moving quickly and decisively when opportunities present themselves.
Strategic initiative funds not only seed initial development of the best ideas but also sustain and develop those ideas, keeping CLA in the vanguard of research and discovery.
Supporting Faculty
Because outstanding scholars and teachers are the lifeblood of CLA, supporting our faculty is a top priority. To ensure continued excellence in the college, we seek significant funding to
- create endowed faculty chairs and professorships to attract and support the nation's preeminent teachers and scholars;
- provide endowed research funds and other resources to facilitate research, creative activity, and exceptional teaching;
- support faculty enterprise in both the academic and public arenas to promote discovery, innovation, and creative problem solving and to keep our professors on the leading edge of their fields, contributing to our communities.