Based on responses to the annual Voluntary Support of Education survey, CASE estimates that colleges and universities in the U.S. raised $52.90 billion during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, up from $49.50 billion the previous year.

Unrestricted Gifts and Gifts to Endowments Rose Sharply

Unrestricted contributions, while they represent only 7.4% of contributions to survey respondents, increased 30.2%, which is an unprecedented level of growth for this type of donation.

Gifts to restricted endowments, which represent 27.5% of annual support, rose 16.7%. The most common restriction placed on endowment gifts is that they be used to fund student financial aid.

Giving from Alumni Rose the Most, Followed by the “Other Organizations” Category

Contributions from alumni increased 10.8%, and those from other organizations rose 9.1%.

The “other organizations” category, which is dominated by donor-advised funds (DAFs), surpassed corporations for the first time last year. This pattern continued in the current survey cycle.

In a subset of 423 institutions that reported on support from DAFs, such entities represented 81.8% of their other organization giving. DAF giving increased 26.5% in that sample.