University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation

What University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation does

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established to invest and manage private philanthropic gifts supporting the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a member of the University of Louisiana System. Founded in 1957 and headquartered at 705 East St. Mary Blvd in Lafayette, Louisiana, the Foundation operates with a small staff (1–10 employees) under CEO John Blohm and a Board of Trustees chaired by Joe Giglio Jr. The Foundation's principal function is to serve as the institutional conduit for charitable giving, channeling donations from alumni, faculty, staff, students, corporations, and community members into scholarships, endowed faculty positions, research initiatives, athletic programs, and capital improvements across the university.

The Foundation's product surface is a multi-channel giving platform rather than a technology stack. Its core offerings include the Give Now online donation portal, the University Annual Fund, the Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Foundation, planned giving vehicles (bequests and charitable trusts), academic college-specific funds, the GeauxU mobile app (iOS/Android), and targeted Faculty & Staff, Student, and Matching Gifts programs. Distribution is supported by the foundation's own digital properties (give.louisiana.edu, ragincajuns.evenue.net, louisiana.mygiftplan.info), the @Louisiana email newsletter, an active social media presence across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and a phonathon program that engaged roughly 30,000 alumni and friends in 2017–18.

The Foundation's revenue model is donation- and philanthropy-based rather than commercial. Gifts range from small recurring contributions to transformational multi-million-dollar pledges, with two flagship healthcare-sector anchors — LHC Group ($20M over 10 years for the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, 2021) and Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center ($15M over 15 years for Cajun Field, 2021) — supplemented by a steady cadence of high-six- and seven-figure alumni gifts. The Foundation does not sell products or services; pricing is donor-determined, tax-deductible, and structured across one-time, recurring, planned, and matching-gift instruments. Aggregate gifted and pledged assets grew from roughly $500,000 to over $150 million across the 1974–2008 tenure of university president Dr. Ray P. Authement, underscoring the Foundation's long-run capital accumulation role.

Name

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation

Legal name

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation

Website

https://give.louisiana.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1957

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that invests and manages private philanthropic gifts — including annual fund donations, planned giving, and major pledges — supporting scholarships, faculty, research, and athletics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Fundraising and Endowment Management

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE), Major Gifts, Planned Giving & Endowment Development (EDALAOAC)

Keywords

• University fundraising
• Endowment management
• Charitable giving programs
• Planned giving services
• Donor stewardship

Headquarters

HQ city

Lafayette, Louisiana

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: The foundation receives monetary gifts from alumni, friends, and organizations supporting the university. These include one-time gifts, recurring donations, and major gifts designated for specific purposes such as scholarships, faculty positions, facilities, and academic programs.
2. Planned Giving: Bequests, charitable remainder trusts, and other planned giving arrangements that provide future support to the university through estate planning mechanisms.
3. University Annual Fund: Annual fund-raising campaign supporting the greatest needs of the university including student recruitment, retention and sustainability initiatives. During 2017-2018 fiscal year, almost 30,000 alumni and friends participated, raising $234,000.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation is a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that invests and manages private gifts to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It operates a unified giving platform offering multiple philanthropic vehicles including annual funds, academic college gifts, athletic fundraising, planned/deferred giving, faculty/staff giving, student giving, and corporate matching gifts, channeling donor contributions toward scholarships, endowed faculty positions, research initiatives, athletic programs, and facility improvements.

Product overview

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation operates as a unified giving platform with multiple interconnected giving options. The core offering is the online Give Now portal, which encompasses the University Annual Fund for greatest-need support, Academic Colleges giving for college-specific donations, and Athletic Fund support through the Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Foundation. Additional products include the GeauxU Mobile App for mobile engagement, Planned Giving for estate/deferred gifts, and targeted Faculty & Staff Giving, Student Giving, and Matching Gifts programs. These products collectively form a comprehensive fundraising ecosystem serving alumni, donors, students, and friends of the University.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Give Now / Online Giving Platform The Foundation's primary online donation portal enabling supporters to make gifts to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, including options for the University Annual Fund, academic colleges, athletics, and specific initiatives.
• University Annual Fund Supports the greatest needs of the University community including student recruitment, retention and sustainability initiatives. During 2017-2018 fiscal year, almost 30,000 alumni and friends participated, raising $234,000.
• GeauxU Mobile App A mobile application designed to bring all that UL Lafayette has to offer to users' mobile devices. Available for Apple and Android devices, serving alumni, students, and friends of the University with engagement and giving functionality.
• Academic Colleges Giving Targeted giving program allowing donors to direct contributions to specific academic colleges, supporting departments, programs, dean's enhancement funds, and endowments.
• Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Fund Dedicated fundraising program through the Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Foundation supporting student-athletes and athletic program facilities.
• Planned Giving Deferred giving options including bequests, charitable remainder trusts, and other estate planning vehicles that provide future support to the university through legacy giving mechanisms.
• Faculty & Staff Giving Targeted giving programs specifically designed for university faculty and staff members to support the institution.
• Student Giving Giving programs for current students designed to develop philanthropic habits early.
• Matching Gifts Corporate matching gift programs that enable donors to double or multiply their charitable contributions through employer matching programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Transformed lives of students through scholarships and financial support
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, major and core.

• Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical CenterflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2021Our Lady of Lourdes committed $15 million over 15 years for Cajun Field renovation, securing naming rights. This is the largest philanthropic gift in Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Athletics history. Founded by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady in 1949, Lourdes is a regional acute care medical center with over 2,800 employees and 600+ physicians.
• LHC GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2021LHC Group committed $20 million over 10 years to support UL Lafayette's College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions. This is the largest private investment in an academic unit at the university. Funds support simulation lab programs, endowed deanship, scholarships, faculty positions, and post-acute care certification programs. LHC Group is a national provider of in-home health care services operating in 35 states with approximately 30,000 employees.
• Pugh Family FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Nick and JoAnn Pugh founded the Pugh Family Foundation in 2000. They have invested in supporting UL Lafayette's College of Education & Human Development Learning Lab, an initiative designed to transform K-12 education in Louisiana using a unique lab school model. The foundation previously supported scholarships, CAPE Satellite Program, and Project Innovate.
• Pfizer-BioNTechmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020UL Lafayette's New Iberia Research Center conducted nonhuman primate clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, helping determine its effectiveness. This contributed to the vaccine receiving emergency use authorization and becoming the world's first fully tested COVID-19 immunization.
• Virgin OrbitcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Virgin Orbit launched UL Lafayette's CAPE-3 satellite from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California using their LauncherOne rocket attached beneath a Boeing 747 wing. The satellite measures radiation levels for NASA.
• National Endowment for the HumanitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided a challenge grant for the restoration of the J. Arthur Roy House, the oldest building on UL Lafayette's campus. The matching funds helped galvanize support for the Restore the Roy initiative.
• Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health SystemmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent organization of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. As the largest locally-owned, not-for-profit health system in Louisiana, they support university initiatives through their subsidiary's donations.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Lumina Foundation: An independent national education grantmaking foundation focused on postsecondary access and student success. Comparable as an education-focused grantmaking organization, though operating nationally and at far greater scale — useful for understanding external education-funding dynamics affecting UL Lafayette donor appeal.
• Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE): Professional association serving advancement professionals at educational institutions, including university foundations. Comparable as an ecosystem enabler — sets fundraising benchmarks, donor-stewardship standards, and peer-networking infrastructure that the UL Lafayette Foundation relies on.

Broad incumbents

• Texas A&M Foundation: One of the largest university-affiliated foundations in the U.S., supporting Texas A&M University. Operates the same model — managing private gifts and endowments for a public research university — but at dramatically larger scale (billions in AUM), serving as a structural incumbent benchmark.
• University of Alabama Foundation: Endowment-management foundation for the University of Alabama, an SEC peer with a strongly branded athletics identity analogous to the Ragin' Cajuns. Comparable institutional setup but at materially larger scale, illustrating the upper bound of the university-foundation model.

Direct peers

• LSU Foundation: The fundraising and endowment-management foundation for Louisiana State University, the state's flagship university. Directly comparable as a state-system university foundation operating within Louisiana, competing for the same regional corporate donors and alumni.
• University of Southern Mississippi Foundation: Fundraising arm of a regional public research university in neighboring Mississippi with comparable Carnegie classification, athletic brand profile, and Gulf South alumni base. Closely analogous in mission, donor pool characteristics, and fundraising structure.
• McNeese State University Foundation: Foundation for a regional Louisiana public university with similar enrollment scale and Acadiana-adjacent alumni network. Comparable endowment structure, regional donor pool, and capital-campaign methodology.
• University of Louisiana at Monroe Foundation: The foundation for UL Lafayette's sister school within the University of Louisiana System. Same system governance, comparable institution size and mission, providing a near-direct peer for fundraising operations, endowment scale, and donor-program design.
• Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Foundation: The athletic-focused fundraising channel operated alongside the UL Lafayette Foundation. Directly comparable as a sub-entity supporting the same university with similar donor stewardship mechanics, but narrowly focused on athletics naming rights and scholarship support.

Emerging players

• LSU Alumni Association: Alumni engagement and donor-stewardship counterpart at LSU, providing a peer view of how a larger in-state institution operates a parallel alumni giving channel — useful for benchmarking engagement programs and revenue mix.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ULLafayette
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ULLFoundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/ullafayettefoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/university-of-louisiana-at-lafayette-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/ullafayette

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation