Read Our Strategic Plan: Pioneers and Optimists

Our Partnership to Advance Higher Education in Maryland.

For 40 years, the USM Foundation has helped to fulfill the dreams of those who seek a better life through education and a better world through research and innovation.

Partnerships and relationships have defined the Foundation. We are in the helping business: we respond to emerging needs across our partner institutions, identify ways to build philanthropic capacity, and steward the private funds entrusted to us. As the landscape of higher education changes, we must change with it.

Pioneers and Optimists: Mapping our path forward in a world of uncertainty and opportunity.

Our five-year strategic plan will build on our history in ways that will help us best rise to the challenges facing higher education today.   There are three commonalities across the five main themes of the plan.

• Alignment and Partnership: The Foundation exists to facilitate the mission of the USM and its institutions, and our focus must track with USM priorities. The strategic plan reflects this imperative, supporting priorities in entrepreneurship and innovation and strengthening an emphasis on building a culture of philanthropy, especially through areas of endowment and alumni engagement.
• Communication and Trust: The public’s perception of higher education is declining, with questions of affordability and relevance drowning out messages about the value of a degree. The USM Foundation will work to build trust in higher education, bolster donor confidence, and add a vital voice to inform legislative leaders why public higher education matters.
• Leadership and Governance: Understanding that a rising tide lifts all boats, we will leverage our Board and our resources to raise the bar across the USM. We will share best practices and expertise and create tools that enable leaders, volunteers, and front-line fundraisers to attract transformative private support.

We are excited to present the University System of Maryland (USM) Foundation’s five-year strategic plan.

To read the full plan please click here to download.