New pledges and donations to the University of Missouri fell $6 million in December as the campus weathered the fallout of public discontent that also threatens to erode the school�s finances via state support and tuition revenue.

December combines Christmas generosity and the promise of tax deductions on returns due April 15, making it a prime time for fundraisers at major institutions.

In December 2014, new pledges and donations for all campus activities including athletics totaled $19.6 million, according to figures compiled by the university�s advancement office. Only $13.6 million came in this December, a drop of about 31 percent.

The figures represent new commitments and donations that are not given in fulfillment of previous pledges, Vice Chancellor of University Advancement Tom Hiles said.

For the three complete months since campus protests made international news in November, new pledges and donations to MU declined by about $7.4 million. Along with the decrease in new support, pledges totaling about $2 million were withdrawn, Hiles said. About 10 were gifts of $25,000 or more, including one for $500,000, he said.

Total new pledges and donations in fiscal year 2015 totaled $147.6 million, down from a record $164.1 million in fiscal year 2014.

The advancement office has fielded more than 2,000 calls from people upset with the university and tracks them by topic on a heat map.

�It ran the gamut from� Assistant Professor Melissa �Click to Planned Parenthood to just a general lack of leadership,� Hiles said. ��Who�s in charge? Are the students running it?� If I heard inmates are running the asylum one more time I was going to � . Those were the general categories.�

Student demonstrations over racism and marginalization on campus made international headlines after the Tiger football team announced it would boycott athletic activities in support of a hunger strike by Concerned Student 1950 member Jonathan Butler.

Athletic donations also have dipped, including a 68 percent drop in December cash gifts compared to December 2014 and a 38 percent decline in new pledges and donations as tallied in Hiles� office during November, December and January.

The Athletic Department�s decreased fundraising over that period � $1.3 million � is included in the total campus decline of $7.4 million.

Giving by smaller donors, defined as those who give less than $10,000, declined by about 5 percent in the three-month period, with drops in November and December somewhat offset by a January increase in giving. Small donors gave or pledged $4.76 million in the period, down from $5.02 million the previous year.

�We definitely got hit in our annual fund and other points,� Hiles said. �It was rough because normally December is our best month.�

While his office fielded calls, Hiles said staff members researched callers who said they would never donate again. The result, he said, was �about a 90 percent correlation with people who ... have never given.�

The final word on other financial issues is unresolved. A House committee already has denied the university a portion of the budget increase allocated to other state colleges and universities. Chairwoman Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, cited Click�s continued employment and a demonstration that interrupted a UM System Board of Curators meeting for the cut.

At a Wednesday hearing of the Joint Committee on Education, interim MU Chancellor Hank Foley said figures show an anticipated enrollment drop of 900 students, which roughly equates to a $20 million loss of tuition revenue.

For the year to date overall, new pledges and donations are well ahead of the previous fiscal year because Rich and Nancy Kinder pledged $25 million in October to launch the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy. Without that gift, the year-to-date total would have decreased by $8.7 million.

�We are not actually off in terms of donations,� Foley told the joint committee. �In terms of overall donations, we are doing quite well.�

Foley said he has �spent a fair amount of time speaking to donors.�

The university launched its �Mizzou: Our Time to Lead� campaign Oct. 8 with a goal of raising $1.3 billion; several events were linked to Homecoming weekend at MU. Protests by Concerned Student 1950 also started that weekend when several students blockaded the Homecoming parade and stopped then-UM System President Tim Wolfe�s car.

It was another problem for an administration already beset by troubles, including faculty members and deans upset by former Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin�s administrative style. Graduate assistants were rebelling over a loss of health insurance coverage, and the bad blood between Wolfe and Loftin was being played out in closed curators meetings.

Wolfe resigned on Nov. 9, and Click was caught on camera later that day trying to push a videographer away from the protest site and calling for �some muscle� to help.

Click has dominated headlines since Nov. 9, with 117 lawmakers signing letters calling for her dismissal and the curators putting her on paid suspension while her actions are investigated.

For university operations outside athletics, current donations are not a major source of support. Donors who give to support academics are asked to support an increase in the university�s $825 million endowment, a particular building project or a project such as the Kinder Institute, Hiles said.

The biggest donors aren�t threatening to pull their support, Hiles said. He spoke to a donor last week who has pledged $5 million and is concerned about what lawmakers will do to MU, he said.

�They say the university is going to be hurt until some action is taken,� Hiles said. �They are not threatening to pull their gift or say they are not going to give.�

A consultant who was at Penn State University when retired assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested for molesting boys helped MU understand what happens in a crisis, Hiles said. Odd parallels include Penn State launching a major fundraising campaign in October 2011 and Sandusky being arrested on Nov. 9, 2011, Hiles said.

The Penn State scandal lasted for months as arrests, firings and trials took place. The lesson is that donors eventually return, Hiles said.

�It has not been easy, but nobody died, there�s not violence here, no classes were canceled,� he said. �So I�ll take our problems over that.�