About the Foundation
The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation, Inc., is an independent charitable organization founded to raise and oversee funds donated to UAFS.
The Foundation’s vision is to build the level of resources necessary to advance the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith into a position of national leadership among regional universities.
Its mission is to inspire generosity through meaningful, lifetime donor relationships in order to secure and grow additional resources to support UAFS in its endeavor to become a premier university. These resources are administered in a way that engenders continuing trust and helps the University more effectively fulfill its mission. The Foundation prudently stewards gifts to preserve their value as a major source of consistent, ongoing support to the University.
The Foundation was established in 1957 as the Fort Smith Junior College Foundation through a trust agreement. It was incorporated in October 1974 with nine members. There were limited fundraising efforts from the time the college became public in 1965 until the Foundation was restructured in 1981. However, the Foundation did acquire three pieces of property adjacent to the campus during this period and financed the 1973 campaign that gave the college the ability to use millage income for capital projects.
In 1987, the Foundation hired its first full-time employee, Carolyn Moore, whose primary responsibility was to encourage philanthropic contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and other organizations in support of activities and programs of Westark College. At that time, the Foundation's assets totaled approximately $85,000.
Under Moore’s direction, the Foundation grew dramatically. By the time Westark College merged with the University of Arkansas system in late 2000, its endowment had grown to more than $20 million—the largest per-student endowment of any two-year college in the nation among those participating in the Voluntary Support of Education survey.
Today, under the direction of Dr. Marta Loyd, who became Executive Director in 2003, the Foundation continues to thrive. Through the generosity and vision of thousands of donors and the careful stewardship of gifts, the Foundation's assets total more than $60 million, placing it among the 20 largest nonprofit corporations in the state of Arkansas.
Since 1985, the Foundation has awarded more than $7 million in scholarships and disbursed approximately $8 million to the University for equipment, technology, facilities, and faculty support.
