A record number of donors, 295, participated in Des Moines University’s One Day for DMU fundraising event, contributing a total of $178,104 from noon to noon April 28-29. Those who participated supported 23 different funds, including the DMU Fund, which gives University leaders the flexibility to utilize contributions to support pressing needs and new opportunities.
“You are the reason we can dream big – and boy, have we been dreaming big,” DMU President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., said at the conclusion of One Day for DMU. “We cannot advance our vision for the University without all of you. Your gift is a powerful way to ensure we continue to change the world in a positive way.”
All gifts to the University support its Purple & Proud Campaign, which was announced in December 2018 with a goal of raising $25 million by December 2020. DMU alumni and friends had a different idea, however: They allowed the University to achieve the goal a year early and to double the total goal to $50 million. The campaign’s primary goal is to support DMU’s new campus in West Des Moines, an undertaking that will transform ways the University educates future health professionals, delivers patient care and provides services to the community.
Other goals of Purple & Proud include supporting students through scholarships and other resources and investing in faculty to recruit and retain outstanding educators.
“Because of our donors, there are 88 acres in West Des Moines that are being prepared to emerge as an innovative model for the nation in providing the most advanced learning opportunities, research resources and health care services for the community,” President Franklin said. “DMU can dream more audaciously and plan more progressively than ever before thanks to their generosity.”
