Rupa Kotecha-Smith
Marketing & Communications Manager
CASE Europe
+ 44 (0)20 7448 9955
kotecha-smith@case.org

Pam Russell
Director of Communications
CASE
+1-202-478-5680
russell@case.org

For Immediate Release
12/1/2010

UK Confirms Pioneering Scheme to Support Higher Education Philanthropy will run to July 2011

CASE Welcomes the News

LONDON-At Universities UK's recent debate, "Preventing a Funding Crisis in Higher Education: Addressing the Outcomes of the Spending Review and Browne Review," Minister for Higher Education David Willetts confirmed that the 2008-2011 Matched Funding Scheme for Voluntary Giving would run its full three-year course until the end of July 2011.

The scheme was lauded for incentivising donors and encouraging philanthropic gifts to support higher education. It was also praised for helping support a longer-term culture and behaviour change regarding giving to universities and colleges. Universities UK President Professor Steve Smith commended the impact of the scheme on universities with a less established tradition of fundraising and philanthropic giving. He encouraged the government to continue pump-priming investment in this area.

In response to a question from Joanna Motion, vice president for international operations at CASE, Willetts responded positively to the role that philanthropy can play in the future funding of higher education. He commented on a united approach to philanthropy across education, the arts and the voluntary sector. However, he could not commit to an extension of the matched funding scheme.

CASE welcomes this news on behalf of the 143 higher education institutions participating in the scheme. The £200 million government programme is on track to raise an additional £400 million for the higher education sector. It has already contributed to a 12 percent increase in donor numbers and more than £80 million in cash income.

About CASE

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in London, Singapore and Mexico City, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the professional organization for advancement professionals who work in alumni relations, communications, fundraising, marketing and other areas.

CASE is one of the largest nonprofit education associations in terms of institutional membership. Its membership includes more than 3,400 colleges, universities, independent elementary and secondary schools, and educational associates in 74 countries around the world. It serves nearly 65,000 advancement professionals on the staffs of its member institutions.

CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with their alumni and donors, raise funds for campus projects, produce recruitment materials, market their institutions to prospective students, diversify the profession and foster public support of education. CASE also offers a variety of advancement products and services, provides standards and an ethical framework for the profession, and works with other organizations to respond to public issues of concern while promoting the importance of education worldwide.

###