NewsVisual: University of Utah receives $12m from alumnus. Who helped him make up his mind?

The University of Utah today announced that their Business School was to receive a $12m gift from Pierre Lassonde, an MBA alumnus. Mr. Lassonde is a long-time donor for the school. This most recent donation brings the total sum of his gifts to $25m.

What makes some member's of a university's alumni community more likely to donate than others? What prompts their generosity?

Throughout a series of posts, NewsVisual has reported numerous university major gift donations and in every case has been able to identify key relationships between the donor and constituents at the recipient school. This case is no different and the image from Prospect Visual shows Pierre Lassonde had several connections to University of Utah.

The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that key relationships can often act as strong influencers when it comes to convincing a prospect to become a donor.

Donataion Details

As discussed on Ft.come, "The latest donation will help support the construction of the new building, which will open to students in 2016. The Lassonde Studios, as the building will be called, will cost an estimated $45m and will have 412 residences and a space for students to build prototypes and launch companies."