Anyone can make an annual gift to NMSU. They are made by thousands of individuals every year who want to transform lives. It is one of the many ways in which the University proves it is a caring community. Our donors include alumni, faculty and staff members, friends of the university, parents and even current students.

Giving creates opportunities for students in every department and college at NMSU. These gifts become direct scholarship awards to students or support for programs, research and new equipment. Every dollar addresses a need that is identified by scholarship coordinators and faculty members. Last year, for example, over 3,000 students received donor-funded scholarships at NMSU. Each student helped in this way will have their own story of how the valuable support they received made a difference. When you receive “thank you” notes from scholarship recipients, you will hear first-hand about the impact of your gift.

We invite you to give to what you love at NMSU! It is up to you whether you want to support your own department, one of our fine athletics teams, an academic scholarship in your college or more. It is quick and simple to give to the fund of your choice through our online giving page. Other ways to give include answering the call from one of our students at the Aggie Pride Call Center or mailing in a check in response to letters you may receive periodically from NMSU leaders and students.

When making a gift online, search for the specific college, department, program or fund that you would like your gift to benefit. When making a gift using the printable gift form, indicate the college, program or fund that you would like your gift to benefit in the gift information section.

First, thank you for thinking about this. Many employers will match the charitable gifts of employees, thereby doubling or tripling the value of their gifts. Every company handles their matching gift programs differently, so we recommend that you contact your HR department directly. To find out if your company participates in such a program, ask your HR department or search the Foundation’s online database of companies that match gifts. Ask your company’s matching gift officer for a gift form and send it along with your gift to the NMSU Foundation. We do the rest.

Absolutely! NMSU launched a new program to support those that give on a recurring basis. In honor of our beloved mascot, Pistol Pete, you can show your pride by becoming a rePETE donor and choosing to rePETE your gift monthly, quarterly or annually (you pick!) through our secure online platform. You can choose the amount of your gift and the dates it is taken from your account. rePETE gifts can help your philanthropic goals fit into your monthly budget. Most who use this option will say it’s a great, hassle-free way to support NMSU year-round.

Your annual gift provides essential support for scholarships and programs, but that isn’t the only reason to make a gift. Corporations and foundations partly base their own grant-funding decisions on the support that alumni and friends provide to NMSU. Simply put, they give to institutions that also receive broad-based support from individuals. Alumni giving rates also factor into college rankings published by U.S. News & World Report and other organizations, which is used by students and parents when selecting a university. When you show your Aggie pride with an annual gift of any amount, you are putting the spotlight on our great university and encouraging future Aggies to follow in your footsteps.

We are happy to acknowledge gifts made in honor or in memory of individuals. If you send us a name and address, we’d be happy to send an acknowledgement of the gift to the family. No mention of the dollar amount of the gift will be made unless requested.

Yes! All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent that the law allows. You must claim the gift as an itemized deduction on your tax return to qualify. The NMSU Foundation is a nonprofit IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) organization that is structurally separate from NMSU and exists solely for NMSU’s benefit, serving as the preferred channel for private gifts to all areas of the University system.

We receipt all gifts in accordance with IRS guidelines and mail those to the address you provide. If you give online, you will also receive a confirmation of your gift via email.

The Foundation’s gift accounting department carefully analyzes each online gift to verify whether the donor is a graduate, long-time supporter or a new donor. Staff members review name and address information (residence and business), graduation dates and any other comments associated with the gift to correctly link the online donation with the correct donor.

The NMSU Foundation uses industry-standard SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption to protect the confidentiality of your personal information. The NMSU Foundation adheres to the Donor Bill of Rights developed by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the American Association of Fundraising Counsel, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy and the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. The purpose of the policy is to “assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support.”

The NMSU Foundation is a nonprofit corporation with its own Board of Directors and President and is not a state agency. This structure is common among public universities and results in greater effectiveness and benefits for both the university and its donors.

The NMSU administration works closely with the Foundation to communicate its priorities and needs. These become the focus of Foundation fundraising efforts.

Giving through the NMSU Foundation allows you to direct your gift for a specific purpose. For example, you may choose to fund an endowed scholarship for students from Lincoln County, New Mexico, who are studying chemical engineering. Indeed, the majority of our donors choose to direct their gifts in a specific way.

You can document the purpose of your gift in one of two ways. For a gift of $25,000 or more, the Foundation drafts a gift agreement outlining the purpose, form, schedule and administration of your gift. For smaller gifts, you may document your preference with a letter, pledge card, note on the memo line of your check or in the comments section of the online giving form.

An endowment is a permanent fund that the Foundation invests. The Board of Directors allocates approximately 4 percent of the fund per year to support the program or purpose that a donor designates. Investment earnings in excess of the annual amount allocated remain in the principal of the endowment. The goal of this approach is to keep pace with inflation and to ensure that gifts provide the same level of benefit in the future that they do today.

The Foundation also accepts non-endowed or “current use” gifts, which are used more immediately for a designated purpose.

It is simple. Contact the NMSU Foundation at 575-646-1613 or 800-342-6678, and we will craft a gift agreement that will govern your gift according to your wishes. You may designate your endowment for a specific purpose as long as it is consistent with university policy, state, and federal laws. Once the gift is accepted, the conditions are followed in perpetuity. Endowments may be funded with cash, securities, or deferred gifts through a one-time gift or installment payments for up to five years.

Earnings added to the fund fluctuate with the markets. Although our portfolio is well diversified, some investments might occasionally lose value. The spread of the investment allocations helps compensate for losses by a particular style of investment and takes advantage of earnings realized when an investment style is in favor with the market.

Unrestricted gifts have no restrictions or conditions on how they may be used so that university administrators (the president, deans, department heads) can use the funds for their top priorities. Restricted gifts have limitations or conditions on how or when the resources can be used.

For example, a donor may choose to direct a gift to faculty research in philosophy. Once documented, the Foundation and university are obligated to direct those funds as the donor specifies for the future. If or when the purpose for the gift no longer exists, the donor or Foundation may redirect the funds to a closely related purpose.

A one-time gift fee of five percent (5%) will be assessed on all gifts to NMSU and the NMSU Foundation on the value of the gift up to $5 million, and a one-time gift fee of two and one-half percent (2.5%) will be assessed on the value of the gift between $5 million and $10 million. The gift fee will be collected at the time the gift is received. This gift fee shall be allocated to supplement the operating costs of the advancement programs of New Mexico State University, which shall include the operation of the Foundation, the University Department of Advancement, and development programs within the colleges of the University.