MISSOULA – The University of Montana Foundation recorded its second-best fundraising year ever despite the recession.
The $22.6 million the foundation raised in the 2009 fiscal year was offset by a $22.2 million loss in investments.
But the foundation’s annual report says the upturn in the stock market that began in March has reversed much of the impact of last fiscal year’s severe market decline.
The financial difficulties led the foundation to require its 47 employees to take 13 days of unpaid leave between May and October. It also suspended two-thirds of its 750 endowments at the close of the fiscal year on June 30 when they dipped below their principal value. With the market rebound, only one-third of the foundation’s endowments remain frozen.