The University of Houston-Victoria has quadrupled the amount of donations brought in during a two-year period and was recognized by a national professional association for higher education advancement for this achievement.

Greg Rutzen

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education selected UHV as a recipient of a 2015 CASE Educational Fundraising Award. The annual awards recognize U.S. education institutions for overall performance and improvement in educational fundraising programs.

UHV was one of five public universities to receive the Overall Improvement Award, which is based on the judges’ analysis of three years of fundraising data.

“This award demonstrates that our donors are invested in UHV’s future,” said Greg Rutzen, UHV associate vice president for University Advancement and chief advancement officer. “Every person who contributed is a partner in this success.”

UHV Interim President Vic Morgan thanked the donors and the staff in the Office of University Advancement.

Vic Morgan

“Our ability to transition into a full-fledged destination university wouldn’t be possible without the generous support from our donors,” he said. “This award shows that we are growing our donor base, which is an important component of moving toward our goals.”

UHV supplied fundraising data to the Council for Aid to Education’s annual Voluntary Support of Education Survey. Schools with three years of survey data are automatically entered into the CASE awards. A volunteer panel of judges blindly evaluated the fundraising numbers.

Judges reviewed the fundraising data of 571 eligible education institutions before naming the award winners. They selected recipients based on several factors, such as pattern of growth in total support and each program area, total support in relation to alumni base and impact of the dozen largest gifts. The judges chose 106 award winners, including 54 for overall improvement. UHV was one of 22 first-time winners.

“Fundraising at educational institutions continues to grow on campuses across the country as more institutions realize the high value and impact of well-maintained fundraising programs, said Brian Flahaven, CASE director of legislative, foundation and recognition programs. These awards acknowledge the exceptional work of those institutions.”

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas.

Visit www.case.org for a full list of award winners.