Several Colleges And Universities Report Record Fundraising In 2021-22

As colleges and universities close their financial books on fiscal year 2022, several institutions are reporting record fundraising totals. For these institutions - including public flagships, comprehensive universities, historically black colleges and universities, (HBCUs), and private colleges - the past 12 months turned out to be a banner year when it comes to philanthropy.

Here are some leading examples of the record-setters, based on year-end reports by the institutions or their affiliated foundations.

Public Research Universities

Penn State University raised more than $437 million in 2021-22, its largest fundraising year ever, successfully concluding its “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” campaign with a final total of $2,204,949,028 in support.

The University of Oklahoma received $317 million in private gifts and pledges during fiscal year 2022, beating the old record of $237 million that had been established last year. Of the 80,377 gifts received, 54 were donations of $1 million or more.

The University of Georgia broke all previous fundraising records, bringing in over $257.4 million in donations. That record-breaking amount came from 71,302 donors.

Clemson University raised a total of $210,598,898 during fiscal year 2022, topping last year’s total of $202 million. Of the total, 22 gifts of $1 million or more were received.

The University of South Florida set a new record with more than $151 million in donations during fiscal year 2021-22, surpassing the old record set in 2015. USF’s $151.8 million in gifts came from from more than 34,000 donors, including over 6,300 donors who made their first gifts to the university.

Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, reported $98.7 million in gifts, the largest annual fundraising amount in its history.

Florida Atlantic University raised $81.2 million in the 2022 fiscal year – the largest amount ever, breaking the prior record of $57 million from the previous year. As part of the record, FAU received the largest scholarship gift in its history - an estate pledge of $28 million from John and Ann Wood to support scholarships for students enrolled in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.

The University of Memphis set an all-time giving high with $52.2 million in gifts, including $29.1 million for academics, $23.1 million for athletics and $18.2 million for endowments. The previous overall record was $44.1 million in fiscal year 2019.

Other institutions reporting private giving records were Southern Illinois University and Georgia Southern University.

Comprehensive Universities

Among what are sometimes termed comprehensive universities, which typically don’t have the fund-raising capacity of their research university counterparts, several were also reporting record years.

• Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, received a record $24.1 million in gifts in 2021-22, the largest one-year total in the university’s 114-year history. By contrast, just eight years earlier in fiscal year 2014, YSU raised $6.1 million.
• Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, brought in a bit more than $32 million, breaking its previous record (set in FY21) by almost $7 million.
• Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee had its highest fundraising year ever, with $27.6 million in gifts and pledges from 2,367 donors.

HBCUs

Thanks largely to an anonymous gift of $5.8 million, Fayetteville State University raised about $8 million for its all-time private giving record.

Florida A and M University’s 2021-22 fundraising topped 23.1 million, setting its new record.

Private Colleges

• Davidson College celebrated raising more than $114.9 million, far exceeding the next highest total in fiscal year 2019, when the college raised $106.6 million.
• Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio raised $14.7 million in private gifts during 2021-22, an amount it described as “the highest on record in recent history.”
• Elmhurst University in Elmhurst. Illinois, received more than $10.1 million, the most it had ever raised in one year.
• Quincy University raised $10.4 million, surpassing its previous record by 21%.
• Other private colleges achieving record private giving include Taylor University, the University of Dallas and Presbyterian College.

According to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), total giving to U.S. colleges and universities reached $52.9 billion in fiscal year 2021, up about 7% from the prior year, which saw $49.5 billion in gifts. That was viewed as an encouraging figure in light of the economic turmoil associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

But fiscal year 2022 saw a number of developments that caused concern among college fundraisers and that continue to suggest future obstacles. Runaway inflation is threatening the economy as worries about a possible recession increase. The markets have been hit hard in the last six months, with the Nasdaq falling by 30%, the S&P 500 down by 20% and the DJIA slumping over 15% during that period.

Add to those factors the global economic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the fact that college fundraising administrators are having a very difficult time hiring and retaining staff, and these recently reported record fund-raising totals come as a pleasant surprise.

Whether the final FY 2022 totals will match or better last year’s higher education philanthropic support won’t be known for months. For now, several economic storm clouds still loom on the horizon so record fund-raising might become more difficult for institutions to achieve next year.