A wise woman—now a community college president—once confided in me: “Marc, while having a five-year or ten-year plan is helpful, it certainly is not a requirement for success or professional fulfillment. Regardless of plan or intentions, life happens. It is organic and unavoidable and should be embraced.

According to the most recent results from the Voluntary Support of Education Survey, CASE estimates that colleges and universities in the U.S. raised $52.9 billion during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, up from $49.5 billion the previous year.

Community colleges, however, experienced a net increase of 52.5% over that same period of time, thanks in large part to transformational gifts from MacKenzie Scott, American novelist, philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. But if you exclude her gifts, how did community colleges fare?

Although community college enrollment has continued to hold the unenviable position of having been hit hardest by the pandemic, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Read how colleges and foundations are addressing the enrollment crisis.

Following a year of extreme variability, community colleges can learn from 2020’s fundraising data to further explore valuable aspects of advancement—including online/mobile giving, donor-advised funds, alumni relations, and institutional benchmarking.

Last year saw transformative gifts given to certain community colleges (who no longer wistfully sing “If I Had a Million Dollars”). How can two-year institutions continue to illustrate return-on-investment value to increasingly savvy donors?