Florida A&M University’s downward trend of donor giving – which is going down by the millions – has become an additional financial challenge that the university says will take a collective effort to reverse.
FAMU’s Board of Trustees met on campus Dec. 4 for committee meetings and a full board meeting, in which members touched on the need to improve alumni donations after seeing a decrease in the past years.
And a couple of distinguished alumni – former ABC News President Kimberly Godwin and FAMU Foundation board member Chekesha Kidd – attended the board’s full meeting to express their thoughts on the decreased donations, among other ongoing concerns they have about FAMU President Marva Johnson and her team’s leadership.
“The university’s administrative house is not in order. FAMU’s financial house is falling off the cliff, and sadly, our reputation as being among the elite HBCUs is going up in flames,” Godwin said during public comments at the board’s meeting in the university’s Grand Ballroom. She strongly opposed Johnson’s candidacy during FAMU’s contentious presidential search that led to her selection and confirmation as the new president.
“Donations are way down, and alumni are disenfranchised and upset – not because of my protest, but because of this administration’s presence,” Godwin added, referring to Johnson’s recent hires at the university’s expense.
When it comes to giving at FAMU, a chart of fundraising figures showed the decline. Giving had been on an upward trend since 2019 until last year, when it dropped from about $27 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year to about $17 million in the next fiscal year.
This year, donations are down $1.1 million compared to where the institution was last year, according to finance officials. FAMU raised $7.1 million overall by this time last year compared to $6 million thus far this year.
“With continued support from the board, we can convert the momentum of the last several years into lasting strength through major gifts, strategic engagement and targeted investment,” FAMU acting vice president of University Advancement Brandi Tatum-Fedrick said while giving a presentation at the board’s Direct Support Organization committee meeting Thursday.
“In short, the environment is changing, but the foundation we are building positions FAMU to continue moving forward with confidence.”
After the story published on Dec. 5, a FAMU spokesperson disputed the downward trend was solely based on alumni giving, but in fundraising across the board. She noted that Tatum-Fedrick stated in her comments that alumni giving is at a higher rate although the amounts are smaller due to the economic climate. But at the same time, the university is “only down $75K in alumni giving from last year.”
FAMU trustee board vice chair Michael White − who recently donated $100,000 to the university’s School of Business and Industry after pledging to do so at a previous board meeting − said university officials need to work on getting individuals into the habit of giving based on their capacity.
“If they have the ability to give a hundred grand, we don’t want $18.87,” he said, referring to the university’s founding year. “But we also have to cultivate those relationships.”
During Kidd’s comments, she expressed how part of the reason Johnson was hired was because of her relationships and connections, and that it’s “time for her to deliver on those.”
“Fundraising is her job,” said Kidd, founder and CEO of the health and lifestyle company Kinumi, Inc., who also created a petition against Johnson’s candidacy during the search. “As fundraiser in chief, the goals of the annual giving campaign should be tied to her performance. These are her relationships that she should be bringing to the Foundation – not the Foundation doing that work alone.”
Johnson completed her first 100 days in office on Nov. 9, and although her message to campus and alumni noted several highlights, they did not include specifics about fundraising.
FAMU trustee Kristin Harper, who attended the Thursday meetings virtually, also noted how Johnson’s “extensive” background and relationships can be of benefit to the university when it comes to fundraising.
“I want to challenge President Johnson as the chief fundraiser to leverage and cultivate relationships particularly with the corporate as well as the foundation donors,” Harper said.
FAMU president: ‘We all collectively lift the weight’
While annual giving was a main concern of trustees as they received updates, Tatum-Fedrick’s updates to the board also included a few celebratory moments. She shared that the university’s 2024-25 financial statements received an unmodified clean audit opinion – meaning that the documents were fairly presented in all material respects, there were no weaknesses in financial internal controls and the audit work did not identify any compliance issues, according to a university spokesperson.
FAMU also successfully completed its 2025 operational audit with no findings and implemented a new system that modernizes FAMU’s payment and reimbursement processes to reduce manual workload, increase accuracy and strengthen fiscal accountability. “We no longer will be doing paper checks. We are now doing electronic payments,” Tatum-Fedrick told trustees in the Grand Ballroom on campus, which was followed by a round of applause.
At the same time, the university still has some correctional work to do after an auditor general’s March 2025 report on the university’s finances for the fiscal year ending in June 2024 discovered delayed bank reconciliations, vendor payment delays, weaknesses in internal controls and accounting practices and a lack of staff involvement.
“In the early months, we did confront a number of challenges,” Johnson said during her president’s report at the Thursday full board meeting. “Our operational and financial health were at the forefront of them.”
She says the university has corrected and initiated corrections on all major audit findings, strengthened its fiscal controls through a partnership with the accounting firm Mitchell Titus and relaunched its operational excellence task force to reinforce accountability and transparency across all units of the university. “These actions demonstrate that we’re going to continue our unwavering commitment to institutional stability,” she said.
It is unclear where annual giving and the university’s performance in its financial and operational audits fall in Johnson’s 2025-26 presidential goals. The board initially planned to present the goals and vote on them during the Thursday meeting but pushed the item back to give trustees time to hold one-on-one briefing sessions with Johnson in the next few days with any questions or recommendations.
“Although they’re called the president’s goals… my goals are actually goals that we worked on as an executive leadership team,” Johnson told the board. “There’s something in the scope of these goals that everyone on our team is accountable for contributing to. We all collectively lift the weight.”
The board will convene via Zoom either on Dec. 17 or Dec. 18, according to the members’ schedules, for a special meeting to discuss the goals and carry out a vote.
(This story was updated to add new and corrected information that the drop in donations is across-the-board rather than just alumni giving).
Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida. She can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU donations plummet; top alum and foundation board member sound alarm
Reporting by Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
