The ASMSA Foundation had a record-setting year for 2017-18 that included receiving the single-largest gift in school history.
The Foundation’s revenue for 2017-18 was $629,446, an almost 59 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. The Foundation is the fundraising arm for the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, a two-year public residential school that is part of the University of Arkansas System.
The total included more than $409,000 in gifts toward the Creativity and Innovation Complex, the first new academic building to be built on the school’s campus since it opened in 1993. Construction of the $4.7 million facility is expected to be completed in November allowing it to open for use in Spring 2019.
The Oaklawn Foundation provided a $300,000 grant — the single-largest gift in the Foundation’s history — to go toward the complex. The Oaklawn Foundation receives funding each year from Oaklawn Racing and Gaming in Hot Springs. The foundation uses the money to fund programs and scholarships that benefit Garland County students and senior citizens.
The banner year reflected a significant increase in fundraising by the Foundation over the past five years. Gifts and grants to the Foundation were about $62,000 for fiscal year 2011-12. The Foundation began using a strategy of establishing a series of smaller gifts and endowments that built upon each other to produce better long-term results. Fiscal year 2016-17 ended with $370,043 in gifts, grants and interest.
Examples of the smaller-gift strategy from the most recent fiscal year include the establishment of the $15,000 Dan Fredinburg Fellowship for Innovation and Technology endowment and the $10,000 Alderdice Family Summer Arts Fellowship endowment.
Other significant endowments from the past five years include the establishment of the Mary Ann and Reed Greenwood Endowment for the Arts; the Murphy USA Summer Research Fellowship; the ASMSA Trustees’ Service Fellowship; the Daniel A. Benton Award Endowment; the Clifford O. Happy Memorial Endowment; and the Helen Selig Promise Kept Endowment, which was established by family members of the former Hot Springs mayor who was a champion of bringing the school to city. The $40,000 grant was the single-largest endowment gift in school history.
ASMSA receives its base funding from the state General Assembly. ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice notes that the purpose of the Foundation is to test innovative ideas, provide direct support for students with need and to position faculty and students to represent Arkansas on both national and global stages.
“The State of Arkansas ensures that ASMSA is able to meet its core mission through the residential experience and myriad outreach programs. The ASMSA Foundation has been the engine that keeps us all at the forefront while ensuring our community of learning has access to extraordinary opportunities,” he said.
The ASMSA Foundation’s fund is administered by the University of Arkansas Foundation, Inc.