The Center currently has four endowment funds and the values of these over time, dating back to 1996, are shown in the chart below.  These include our NEH Challenge Grant (core grant and match, shown in dark and light green), O’Neill Family Fund (initial gift of $600,000 in the early ‘90s to support “western regional history” studies, shown in light blue), Norm Creighton Fund (pink), and various Scott family and Scott-affiliated Foundation for Community Vitality (FCV) funds which were administratively consolidated into a single Scott Family fund in 2012-13 to support the Center Director and Scott Senior Fellow in Regional Economy (shown in tan or brown).

NEH Challenge Grant endowment – Initially awarded in the mid-90s, with an NEH grant award of $520,000.  This was matched 3-to-1 from other private donations, with the largest gift by Carroll & Nancy Fields O’Connor of $1 mil.  Together these funds reached a peak value of $2.5 mil. before considerable declines in value between 2007 and 2009 during the financial crisis.  After recovering more recently these were valued at $1.9 mil. In December, 2016.  They provide about $80,000 annually in spendable funding for Center programming.

William O’Neill Family Fund – This gift by the O’Neill Family Foundation of $600,000 in the early ‘90s has been providing annual funding of $25,000 or more to the Center in support of studies in western regional history.  This fund also lost value during the financial crisis, but is gradually recovering and stood at about $700,000 at the end of 2016.

Norman Creighton Fund – Initial gift in bank stock by UM alum Norm Creighton was valued at over $100,000 in the ‘90s.  This stock was sold and placed in the UM Foundation investment fund.   The fund provides $4,000 to $5,000 annually in support of Center publications, media programs, and outreach.   At the end of 2016 the fund’s value was $106,000.

Scott Family Fund – Jim and Chris Scott provided an early gift in the ‘90s to helping to meet the NEH match.  Other additional gifts they have made along with their Foundation for Community Vitality are consolidated within the Scott Family Fund.  These gifts were in the form of First Interstate Bank stock, 45,195 shares in all, and these have grown in value to over $1.8 million by the end of 2016.  Annual spending distributions are from FIB quarterly dividends which now total about $39,000 yearly. 

The Center is seeking additional endowment support in the following areas:

1. Add another $300,000 to $400,000 to the existing O’Neill Fund, raising its total value to more than $1 million and use this to establish a dedicated endowment fund for the Center’s Senior Fellow in Regional History.  Studies and programs on the region’s history are at the core of the Center’s work.  Dedicating a $1 million endowment fund for this position would raise its stature, improving the Center’s ability to attract and retain highly qualified people for this position in cooperation with UM History.
2. There currently is no dedicated endowment fund to underwrite Center media and journalism programs like Mountain West News.  We would badly like to raise $500,000 in endowment that can be used for this purpose.  While it is important for the Center to do good research and study on the region, it is vitally important that such work be broadly disseminated outside of the University and into the region.  And it is important that the Center continue to provide daily and weekly summaries of the most important stories in the region’s growth and change.  Dedicated endowment funding for this work would make it more sustainable and help raise the stature and quality of this program area.  The Center’s current Creighton Fund is largely directed to this area of programming, but considerably more endowment support is needed to maintain the Center’s quality programming in regional journalism. 
3. Raise another $500,000 to add to the Center general programming endowment, adding both funding and flexibility in how this would be used across the Center’s programs in regional history, regional economy, and regional journalism.

If these capital funding goals could be met, they would raise total endowment support for the Center from its current $4.5 million level to almost $6 million.  This would raise operating support for Center personnel and programming from endowment to about $250,000 annually.  While the O’Connor Center does receive some support from University sources, this support is relatively small and the Center must depend on both endowment funding and annual grant and contract activity to support its programs. 

To learn more about these endowment opportunities at the Center, contact Center Director Scott Mills at 406-243-4740 (Center main line) or by email at Scott Mills.

Note: This funding plan was developed over the years in consultation with members of the Center’s advisory board, UM administrators, and UM’s Campus Development Committee.   It reflects existing areas of Center programming and focuses upon how this programming can be better funded and sustained into the future.