City of Hope raised more than $122 million in 2007 — surpassing its goal by $15 million — and fundraising successes have continued to exceed expectations in the new year.
“The generosity of the donors who have supported us during this first quarter is extremely encouraging and bodes well for the remainder of the year,” said Kathleen Kane, executive vice president of development and external affairs.
Among this year’s early successes is a $5 million gift from Orly and Shmuel Cabilly, Ph.D. The Cabilly gift establishes the Cabilly-Riggs Academic Center, a central component of the Graduate School of Biological Sciences, which will be located within the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Cancer Immunotherapeutics and Tumor Immunology. The gift builds on the critical support to the construction of the center provided by the $5 million donation from the Argyros Foundation in 2007.
Another major 2007 gift was $20 million from the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Foundation to fund a significant addition to the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Diabetes and Genetic Research Center.
The number of endowed chairs grew to eight in 2007 with the addition of the Lester M. and Irene C. Finkelstein Chair in Biology. This $2 million gift established the chair, now held by Gerd Pfeifer, Ph.D. Another $3 million from Eric Lidow and the Lidow Foundation created the Lidow Family Research Chair, held by John Rossi, Ph.D., chair and professor of molecular biology and dean of the graduate school.
Robert Figlin, M.D., was named as the Arthur and Rosalie Kaplan Professor of Medical Oncology, thanks to the Kaplan family, which has supported City of Hope for generations.
During 2007, bequests — donations made through wills and trusts — contributed $35 million, a record total. And important grants from prominent entities such as the W.M. Keck Foundation, the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation, the V Foundation, Sidell-Kagan Foundation and STOP CANCER directly boosted scientists’ work.
Online giving also increased significantly. City of Hope raised more than $510,000 in 2007 through online donations, including general contributions and funds generated through the Cards for Hope program. “This figure represents an increase of nearly 37 percent compared to 2006, which is significant,” said Diana Keim, senior director of development. “This can be largely attributed to changing attitudes toward online giving. People are becoming more comfortable conducting financial transactions over the Internet.”
Kane sees the growing fundraising dollars in 2007 and early 2008 as vital to support City of Hope’s strategic plan, which will ultimately help patients not only in City of Hope’s medical center but far beyond it.
