{"id":4402231482361,"date":"2026-04-14T10:57:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T14:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/?p=4402231482361"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:23:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:23:05","slug":"colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/","title":{"rendered":"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Colleges and universities raised $78 billion in fiscal year 2025, but most of that came from just 2 percent of donors, according to the most recent Voluntary Support in Education<\/a> report released Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compiled annually by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the report offers one of the first glimpses into how fundraising fared in 2025. It included 670 colleges and universities and covers July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report notes that colleges and universities are experiencing the same fundraising trend as other organizations in the nonprofit sector \u2014 more dollars are being raised in total but from fewer donors: Specifically, 89 percent of all funds raised came from just 2 percent of donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sue Cunningham, CASE CEO, says that when she started fundraising three decades ago, around 80 percent of dollars came from 20 percent of donors. \u201cSince then, it’s really shifted,\u201d she says, due to a growing wealth divide, \u201cwhich is concerning no matter what angle you look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To shift the donors-to-dollars imbalance, universities should focus on building a pipeline of donors and on ways to better engage all donors, says Jenny Cooke Smith, executive director of CASE insights in data, research, and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campuses Are Trying to Engage Younger Donors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The report indicates that much of the growth in donors was seen among alumni who graduated more than 50 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To counteract this, campuses are trying to engage younger alumni and alter their outreach methods. \u201cWhat drives younger generations to give is impact, which institutions are really focused on now,\u201d Cunningham says. \u201cThe older model of, \u2018I studied at Institution X, and therefore I will give to Institution X\u2019 cannot be presumed. That’s not the relationship that exists now with institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura MacDonald, president of the Benefactor Group, which works with many college and university fundraising departments, says her clients are trying to engage students and alumni earlier and more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery institution I have encountered is trying to take steps to engage students when they’re on campus and\/or the moment they graduate and become alumni to strengthen their bonds,\u201d MacDonald says. Waiting for them to go out into the world before sending them their first solicitation is not a recipe for success, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooke Smith notes that CASE plans to publish a donor-engagement survey later this spring that will explore the myriad ways campuses are trying to engage alumni. \u201cOur younger alumni are absolutely engaging with our institutions,\u201d Cooke Smith says. \u201cThey’re not necessarily doing so in a monetary way.\u201d Colleges and universities view young alumni as a long-term investment, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because that investment may take years to pay off, it requires a shift in how fundraisers are evaluated. \u201cAdvancement offices continue to be judged on the cost per dollar raised, [but] they’re being required to do a whole lot of early alumni engagement that isn’t going to be showing up in the form of gifts for years,\u201d MacDonald says. She is seeing advancement teams shift how they measure success. They\u2019re setting goals to increase the number of donors, for example, not just goals tied to dollars raised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $78 billion raised was 4 percent more than the previous year, but that figure has not been adjusted for inflation. The report included these other notable findings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bequests were up.<\/strong> Both actual bequests \u2014 and donors saying they intended to leave a bequest were up. In 2025, bequests were 24 percent of gifts, compared with 20 percent in 2023. While many predicted the great wealth transfer<\/a> would lead to heirs receiving gifts, Cooke Smith says people may be spreading their wealth among their favorite charities, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most gifts were designated. <\/strong>Eighty-one percent of all contributions were designated for specific uses, and the most common areas of support include student success programs, such as advising and tutoring, financial aid, and research. However, unrestricted giving grew by 24 percent, which could be attributed to federal funding cuts in early 2025, Cooke Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gifts and commitments to public institutions outpaced those to private ones.<\/strong> About 64 percent of public institutions saw an increase in funds received, but 55 percent of private ones did. When it comes to money committed \u2014\u00a0 donor pledges and informal promises to give \u2014 public institutions also held an edge: 58 percent saw an increase, compared with 53 percent of private institutions. Both Cooke Smith and MacDonald cautioned that outlier big gifts at institutions can account for some of this fluctuation. The report includes median data by geographic region to help campuses determine how they\u2019re faring compared to nearby peers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While higher education raised more money, institutions must now think long-term and engage younger alumni who prioritize institutional impact over traditional loyalty to sustain future giving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365184,"featured_media":4402231483043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","cop_editorial_slug":"News_Childress_VSEData","cop_asana_id":"1213985048373648","editorial_asana_id":"","editorial_doc_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81925],"issue":[],"profile":[],"role":[191050],"series":[],"topic":[192026],"coauthors":[189974],"class_list":{"0":"post-4402231482361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-news","8":"role-fundraising","9":"topic-fundraising-from-individuals","11":"has-featured-image"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nColleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors – Chronicle of Philanthropy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While higher education raised more money, institutions must now think long-term and engage younger alumni who prioritize institutional impact over traditional loyalty to sustain future giving.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While higher education raised more money, institutions must now think long-term and engage younger alumni who prioritize institutional impact over traditional loyalty to sustain future giving.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Chronicle of Philanthropy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChronicleOfPhilanthropy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-14T14:57:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-14T15:23:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1260\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rasheeda Childress\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Philanthropy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Philanthropy\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rasheeda Childress\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5c59ac4928993431d5babb4cd0d0c86\"},\"headline\":\"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-14T14:57:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-14T15:23:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/\"},\"wordCount\":758,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/\",\"name\":\"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors – Chronicle of Philanthropy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-14T14:57:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-14T15:23:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5c59ac4928993431d5babb4cd0d0c86\"},\"description\":\"While higher education raised more money, institutions must now think long-term and engage younger alumni who prioritize institutional impact over traditional loyalty to sustain future giving.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg\",\"width\":2100,\"height\":1260},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/\",\"name\":\"Chronicle of Philanthropy\",\"description\":\"News, Opinion and Advice about Philanthropic Giving\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5c59ac4928993431d5babb4cd0d0c86\",\"name\":\"Rasheeda Childress\",\"description\":\"Rasheeda Childress is the senior editor for fundraising at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where she helps guide coverage of the field.Before joining the Chronicle, she covered financial and business news about nonprofit associations at Associations Now. Childress is a longtime journalist who has written and edited a variety of publications, including the Kansas City Star, Higher Education Technology News, and Campus Crime. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Contact: rasheeda.childress@philanthropy.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/author\/rasheeda-childress\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors – Chronicle of Philanthropy","description":"While higher education raised more money, institutions must now think long-term and engage younger alumni who prioritize institutional impact over traditional loyalty to sustain future giving.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors","og_description":"While higher education raised more money, institutions must now think long-term and engage younger alumni who prioritize institutional impact over traditional loyalty to sustain future giving.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/","og_site_name":"Chronicle of Philanthropy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChronicleOfPhilanthropy","article_published_time":"2026-04-14T14:57:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-14T15:23:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2100,"height":1260,"url":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rasheeda Childress","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Philanthropy","twitter_site":"@Philanthropy","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/"},"author":{"name":"Rasheeda Childress","@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5c59ac4928993431d5babb4cd0d0c86"},"headline":"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors","datePublished":"2026-04-14T14:57:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-14T15:23:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/"},"wordCount":758,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/","url":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/","name":"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors – Chronicle of Philanthropy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-14T14:57:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-14T15:23:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5c59ac4928993431d5babb4cd0d0c86"},"description":"While higher education raised more money, institutions must now think long-term and engage younger alumni who prioritize institutional impact over traditional loyalty to sustain future giving.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News_Childress_VSEData-2219403335.jpg","width":2100,"height":1260},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/colleges-raised-78-billion-89-of-funds-came-from-2-of-donors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Colleges Raised $78 Billion, 89% of\u00a0Which Came From 2% of Donors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/","name":"Chronicle of Philanthropy","description":"News, Opinion and Advice about Philanthropic Giving","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5c59ac4928993431d5babb4cd0d0c86","name":"Rasheeda Childress","description":"Rasheeda Childress is the senior editor for fundraising at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where she helps guide coverage of the field.Before joining the Chronicle, she covered financial and business news about nonprofit associations at Associations Now. Childress is a longtime journalist who has written and edited a variety of publications, including the Kansas City Star, Higher Education Technology News, and Campus Crime. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Contact: rasheeda.childress@philanthropy.com","url":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/author\/rasheeda-childress\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4402231482361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/365184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4402231482361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4402231482361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4402231483043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4402231482361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4402231482361"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=4402231482361"},{"taxonomy":"profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile?post=4402231482361"},{"taxonomy":"role","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/role?post=4402231482361"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=4402231482361"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=4402231482361"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4402231482361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}