The CASE Insights team has recently published reports from two major surveys. Here are some key takeaways from each one.

CASE Insights on the Donor Pipeline (in partnership with GiveCampus): CASE Insights partnered with GiveCampus to measure how well respondents understood the donor pipeline and how they aim to engage donors. When assigning a donor to a fundraiser’s portfolio, a vast majority (86.5%), relied on more than one criterion. The most used was a wealth assessment to determine capacity, at 86.6%. Using the outcome of a predictive model varied greatly depending on the size of the institution, ranging from 4.2% of the smallest programs to 61.5% of the largest ones. A majority (58.6%) expressed concern regarding ensuring the donor population reflects the diversity of their student body. Another concern was meeting future giving needs, with 51.3% of respondents disagreeing that there are sufficient donors in all levels of their donor pipeline.

CASE Insights on Voluntary Support of Education: The latest VSE survey (2023–2024) reveals an increase in giving by 3% (when adjusted for inflation), with contributions totaling $61.5 billion. Alumni giving also increased by 7.5%, reflecting the connection between graduates and their institutions. The data also showed that nearly half of all endowed gifts made by donors were directed to student financial aid, highlighting their commitment to equal access of higher education. When added to contributions designated for academic divisions and faculty and staff positions, these categories made up 87.2% of all endowed giving. Donors also funded discovery and research, with 43.6% of current operations gifts earmarked specifically for research.