University Fund Pressured to Release Donor Names
August 8, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Lawmakers in New Mexico are considering whether New Mexico State University’s fund-raising arm — the New Mexico State University Foundation — should comply with state open-records laws by releasing the names of its donors, reports the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Although nonprofit institutions are not usually subject to open-records laws in New Mexico, some lawmakers there said last week that the university’s foundation should comply with the laws because of its affiliation with the public university and because it had agreed earlier this year to help pay the salary of the university’s president and a former head basketball coach.
The fund-raising group’s assets stood at about $100-million at the start of July 2006. It raised $16.6-million during the 2005-6 fiscal year.
University and foundation officials argue that disclosing donor information would damage the university’s ability to raise funds by scaring away potential donors who wish to keep their giving private.
Similar debates have taken place at public colleges across the country in recent years as the institutions face increasing public pressure to open donor records. Read The Chronicle of Higher Education’s coverage of the issue.
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