Duo giving UVSC $420,000

OREM — Philanthropists who have given millions to Arizona State University, Brigham Young University and the University of Utah are donating more than $400,000 to Utah Valley State College.

The donation by Phoenix-area residents Ira and Mary Lou Fulton is a dollar-for-dollar match to funds that students, faculty, staff and members of UVSC's boards have donated from their own pockets.

The school has exceeded its original fund-raising goal — and the Fultons have agreed to match funds above and beyond the original goal.

The couple will match donations made through Dec. 31.

Last spring, the Fultons promised members of the UVSC community that they would match their individual donations up to $1,000 if their departments and divisions set and achieved fund-raising goals.

The departments and divisions made goals ranging from $3,000 to $65,000, UVSC spokeswoman Megan Laurie said.

The college anticipated raising about $300,000 through the "Fulton Challenge," which they expected to be matched by the Arizona couple, who made their fortune in retail stores and housing developments.

Employees enrolled in payroll deduction programs. Students raised money through organized activities such as dances and through coin-deposit jars throughout the campus, Laurie said.

"It really has changed the thinking about fund-raising on campus," said Linda Makin, UVSC's budget director, at a recent meeting with the Board of Trustees. "People were chatting about how much they're raising."

By the beginning of December, the goals of all the departments and divisions had been met — an apparent surprise to Ira Fulton.

"Neither BYU or Arizona State were able to meet their targets" during similar Fulton Challenge fund-raisers, UVSC President Bill Sederburg said.

The Deseret Morning News was unable to reach Ira Fulton, but his foundation's local representative, Art McKinlay, confirmed that Fulton agreed to match money raised beyond UVSC's original goal.

As December drew to a close, donations poured in. A few days before Christmas, the total was about $420,000. And although the campus closed down for the holiday break, the school's fund-raising office remained open to accept donations for the Fulton Challenge.

The Fultons for three years have made the BusinessWeek list of the 50 Most Generous U.S. Philanthropists. This year, they were No. 36.

BusinessWeek estimated the Fultons have given $265 million, or 60 percent of their net worth.

The Fultons have given more than $100 million to ASU. They've given $82 million to BYU and more than $10 million to the University of Utah.

UVSC hopes the Fultons will consider the college in the future when deciding where to contribute, said Val Hale, the college's institutional advancement and marketing vice president.

When "he came to me and said, 'I'd like to institute the Fulton Challenge at UVSC,' we were obviously doing cartwheels with excitement," Hale said.

---

E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com