Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    AI and Microcredentials
Sign In
Fund Raising

Giving to Colleges Rises 5%, With Harvard and Stanford Raising the Most

By Heather Joslyn February 11, 2019
The Harvard Church on Harvard’s campus. Stoked by a $9.6-billion haul in a capital campaign that ended last year, the university raised the most of any private institution in the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The Harvard Church on Harvard’s campus. Stoked by a $9.6-billion haul in a capital campaign that ended last year, the university raised the most of any private institution in the 2017-18 fiscal year.iStock

Giving to colleges and universities grew 4.6 percent in the academic year that ended in June, with donor-advised funds showing significant growth as a source of gifts, according to a report released on Monday.

As in the past, most of the billions given to colleges went to a small group of elite colleges.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

The Harvard Church on Harvard’s campus. Stoked by a $9.6-billion haul in a capital campaign that ended last year, the university raised the most of any private institution in the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The Harvard Church on Harvard’s campus. Stoked by a $9.6-billion haul in a capital campaign that ended last year, the university raised the most of any private institution in the 2017-18 fiscal year.iStock

Giving to colleges and universities grew 4.6 percent in the academic year that ended in June, with donor-advised funds showing significant growth as a source of gifts, according to a report released on Monday.

As in the past, most of the billions given to colleges went to a small group of elite colleges.

The top 20 institutions raised roughly 28 percent of the $47 billion contributed to all colleges in the 2017-18 academic year, the same as in last year’s survey. Fund raising from individuals was fueled by seven gifts of $100 million or more, all of which went to different institutions. Some were payments on pledges from previous years.

Big comprehensive campaigns helped increase support at the biggest institutions. Both the top private and the top public institutions in the following lists — Harvard and the University of California at Los Angeles, respectively — were in the midst of multibillion-dollar campaigns in the 2018 fiscal year. Harvard, which topped the fund-raising list in 2018, set a new high bar with a $9.6-billion haul from the campaign it completed last year.

Support from donors who didn’t attend the institution they supported rose just over 6 percent in the 2017-18 fiscal year, adjusted for inflation, compared with a more-than-4-percent gain in gifts by individuals who gave to their alma maters.

However, it’s possible that giving is stronger among alumni than it may seem. The numbers don’t include gifts people made to their alma maters from family foundations or donor-advised funds, which are counted separately by the researchers.

“Alumni giving is still a greater slice of the pie,” said Ann Kaplan, senior director of the Voluntary Support of Education program at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which now conducts the survey and compiles the report formerly run by Kaplan at the Council for Aid to Education.

Giving from people who aren’t alumni, Kaplan said, is likely to be a bigger factor at research universities that have a hospital or facilities with broader appeal, like an arts center. “Nonalumni tend to give to medical research,” she said.

Among other results in the report:

  • “Other” organizations, including religious orders, fund-raising entities like United Ways, and donor-advised funds, increased their support of colleges by nearly 11 percent.
  • Giving by foundations rose just over 4 percent. About 40 percent of that money came from family foundations.
  • Support by corporations declined by 0.5 percent.

Results from the latest Voluntary Support of Education survey marked the ninth consecutive year of gains for higher-education giving. From 2009 to 2018, total support for American higher-education institutions rose nearly 44 percent, according to the study’s data, when adjusted for inflation.

ADVERTISEMENT

A total of 929 colleges and universities participated in the survey. Those institutions, representing roughly one-third of all colleges and universities in the United States, accounted for just under 80 percent of all private support to higher education in 2017-18.

Donor-Advised Funds

Academic institutions raised a total of $46.73 billion in 2017-18. Here’s how it broke down:

The explosive growth of donor-advised funds — in which people can start a charitable account, receive a tax benefit, and later decide which causes get the money — fueled a significant portion of the support.

Among the survey participants, 404 answered a question about donor-advised funds, often called DAF. Those institutions reported that the dollar value of DAF grants grew nearly 66 percent in the 2018 fiscal year. Both the number of grants and the average value per grant increased as well, by just under 19 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

ADVERTISEMENT

The growth in giving from donor-advised funds reflects their accessibility for midlevel donors. “You don’t have to be as wealthy as you would have to start a foundation,” Kaplan said.

After the federal tax law passed, in December 2017, some donors made a big gift in one year intended to cover multiple years of philanthropy, to maximize their tax benefits, a practice known as “bundling.” Kaplan’s program does not yet have data on that practice, she said.

Because of the growing popularity of donor-advised funds, many colleges and other nonprofit institutions are starting their own. Others are figuring out how to persuade donors who have accounts at Fidelity Charitable and elsewhere to give more.

The stock market’s recent volatility and the likelihood that the long economic expansion will curve into a downturn are matters of concern for all fund raisers in the 2019 fiscal year, Kaplan said. But she encouraged them to tackle any challenges that arise.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Look at your own institution’s results in the context of national trends,” she cautioned.

“But remember that the work you’re doing to create the relationship between it and your supporters transcends all of that.”

Heather Joslyn is a senior editor at The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Contact her by email or on Twitter.

A version of this article appeared in the February 22, 2019, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Finance & Operations
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Photo illustration showing Santa Ono seated, places small in the corner of a dark space
'Unrelentingly Sad'
Santa Ono Wanted a Presidency. He Became a Pariah.
Illustration of a rushing crowd carrying HSI letters
Seeking precedent
Funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions Is Discriminatory and Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Argues
Photo-based illustration of scissors cutting through paper that is a photo of an idyllic liberal arts college campus on one side and money on the other
Finance
Small Colleges Are Banding Together Against a Higher Endowment Tax. This Is Why.
Pano Kanelos, founding president of the U. of Austin.
Q&A
One Year In, What Has ‘the Anti-Harvard’ University Accomplished?

From The Review

Photo- and type-based illustration depicting the acronym AAUP with the second A as the arrow of a compass and facing not north but southeast.
The Review | Essay
The Unraveling of the AAUP
By Matthew W. Finkin
Photo-based illustration of the Capitol building dome propped on a stick attached to a string, like a trap.
The Review | Opinion
Colleges Can’t Trust the Federal Government. What Now?
By Brian Rosenberg
Illustration of an unequal sign in black on a white background
The Review | Essay
What Is Replacing DEI? Racism.
By Richard Amesbury

Upcoming Events

Plain_Acuity_DurableSkills_VF.png
Why Employers Value ‘Durable’ Skills
Warwick_Leadership_Javi.png
University Transformation: a Global Leadership Perspective
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin