CASE Insights Strategic Benchmarking Report
on
Voluntary Support of Education, 2024
Sample Institution
May 2025
THIS SAMPLE REPORT USES SIMULATED DATA FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES
About this Report
Overview
Executive Overview
An executive overview will be written by the CASE Insights team with the purchase of presentation calls. If your purchase includes calls, this section will be populated after your preview call with the CASE Insights team.
Benchmarking Peers
| VSE Peers |
|---|
| Sample Peer 1 |
| Sample Peer 2 |
| Sample Peer 3 |
| Sample Peer 4 |
| Sample Peer 5 |
| Sample Peer 6 |
| Sample Peer 7 |
| Sample Peer 8 |
| Sample Peer 9 |
| Sample Peer 10 |
| Sample Peer 11 |
| Sample Peer 12 |
| Sample Peer 13 |
| Sample Peer 14 |
| Sample Peer 15 |
| Sample Peer 16 |
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About CASE Insights on Voluntary Support of Education
CASE InsightsSM on Voluntary Support of Education
(formerly VSE) is the authoritative source of data on giving to higher
education institutions in the US with 64 years of rigorous survey data.
Nearly 1,000 institutions respond each year. The 2024 survey collected
data for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2024
(with a few institutions reporting on different fiscal calendars). Data
shown are cash received, not pledges or commitments. Access the Guidance Document for specific inclusions
and exclusions across the survey.
Philanthropy Overview
Key Indicators
Hover over each indicator for insights into how to use these metrics.Campaign Status
The table below tracks reported silent or public phases of a comprehensive campaign by year. If an institution did not answer this question, their status will not populate for this table.
| Institution | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample Institution | Campaign | Campaign | ||||||||
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| Sample Peer 2 | Campaign | |||||||||
| Sample Peer 3 | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | |||||||
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| Sample Peer 5 | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | ||||
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| Sample Peer 9 | Campaign | Campaign | ||||||||
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| Sample Peer 12 | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | ||||
| Sample Peer 13 | Campaign | Campaign | ||||||||
| Sample Peer 14 | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | |||||||
| Sample Peer 15 | ||||||||||
| Sample Peer 16 | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign | Campaign |
Peer Characteristics
Funds Received
Funds Received
This view shows Funds Received over a 10-year period. Between 2015 and 2024, your institution decreased by -$6,291,689.
Ranking
This view ranks Funds Received among Peers. Over the last 10 years, Sample Institution moved down 8 position(s) among peers. Your highest ranked year was 2015 and your lowest ranked year was 2021.
Data
Click to Expand Data: Funds Received
Click to Expand Data: Funds Received Ranking
Definitions
Funds Received includes:
- Gifts and grants to your institution, both for current operations and for capital purposes, regardless of form (cash, products, property, securities, etc.)
- Gifts and grants to affiliated foundations and organizations created to raise funds for the institution
- Securities, real estate, equipment, property, or other noncash gifts, to be evaluated at the fair market value placed on them by an independent appraiser, not the cash income therefrom
- Deferred gifts (but not pledges of bequest intentions)
- Cash surrender value of life insurance contracts
- Insurance premiums paid by donors
- Cash payments returned as contributions from salaried staff
Funds Received per Student FTE - Ranking
Funds Received per FTE provides a lens for benchmarking based on
current enrollment. This view ranks Total Support per FTE among Peers.
In this analysis, Sample Institution’s highest ranked year was
2015 and Sample Institution’s lowest ranked year was
2023.
In 2024, Sample Institution moved up 1
spot(s) from the previous year.
Chart
Data
Compound Annual Growth Rate
2024 gift income from Funds Received for Sample Institution was -27.5% lower than 2015 Funds Received.
The data below shows this information as a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), which calculates the average annual percentage growth over time, smoothing out atypical growth or loss during the period. Cumulative growth is calculated for your institution and your Peers as the percentage change each year relative to 2015, the first year Sample Institution submitted data in any year after 2015.
Between 2015 and 2024, Sample Institution had a CAGR of -3.5%. For comparison, Peers that participated in the VSE survey in 2015 and 2024 had a CAGR of 1.9%.
Chart
Data
Percent of Funds Received from 12 Large Gifts
In 2024, 33.3% of Funds Received came from the three largest gifts from Bequests, three largest gifts from Corporations, three largest gifts from Foundations, and three largest gifts from Individuals. Please note that largest gifts from Donor-Advised Funds (collection beginning in 2022) and Other Organizations are not displayed in the data below.
Chart
Data
Philanthropy Findings
Funds Received
Funds Received
Sample Institution increased gift income by 30% between 2023
and 2024, from $12,803,633 to $16,581,355. For comparison,
56.2% of Peers and 54.5% of All Respondents had positive change in gift
income between 2023 and 2024.
Funds Received Minus 3 Largest Gifts
These charts show trends excluding the three largest gifts from bequests, individuals, corporations, foundations, or donor-advised funds. This view helps to exclude large gift outliers, however outliers may still be present if the largest gifts came from Other Organizations.
In the charts below, Sample Institution increased gift income
minus the three largest gifts by 16% between 2023 and 2024,
from $11,377,337 to $13,235,345. For comparison, 56.2% of Peers and
55.3% of All Respondents had positive change in gift income minus the
three largest gifts between 2023 and 2024.
Data
Click to Expand Data: Funds Received
Click to Expand Data: Funds Received Minus 3 Largest Gifts
Growth in Funds Received
Growth
Growth is calculated for your institution, your Peers, and All Respondents as the percentage change each year relative to 2015, the first year Sample Institution submitted data in any year after 2015. In the chart below, Sample Institution decreased gift income by -28% between 2015 and 2024.
Growth Minus 3 Largest Gifts
This chart shows trends excluding the three largest gifts from bequests, individuals, corporations, foundations, or donor-advised funds. This view helps to exclude large gift outliers, however outliers may still be present if the largest gifts came from Other Organizations.
Growth is calculated for your institution, your Peers, and All Respondents as the percentage change each year relative to 2015, the first year Sample Institution submitted data in any year after 2015. In the chart below, Sample Institution decreased gift income minus the three largest gifts by -12% between 2015 and 2024.
Data
Click to Expand Data: Cumulative Growth
Click to Expand Data: Cumulative Growth Minus 3 Largest Gifts
Funds Received by Gift Band
Details
This was an optional survey question. This was a new question in 2022.
Change, 2023-2024
This was an optional survey question. Only
institutions which responded to this question in both 2023 and 2024 are
displayed below.
Data
Click to Expand Data: Details
Click to Expand Data: Change 2023-2024
15 Large Gifts as a Percentage of Funds Received
In 2024, 34% of Sample Institution’s gift income came from the three largest gifts from each source: Individuals, Bequests, (for 2022+) Donor Advised Funds, Foundations, and Corporations. For comparison, 34% of your Self-Selected Peer’s and 26% of All Respondents’ gift income came from the fifteen largest gifts in 2024. Major gifts are a large portion of your overall support. Pay careful attention to giving bands to ensure enough donors are continuing to upgrade into mid and major giving levels.
Summary
Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: Summary
Click to Expand Data: Details
Definitions
Largest gifts refer to the accumulated totals for the year (including any newly established irrevocable deferred gifts - CRTs, CGAs, pooled income funds, or remainder interest in property at face value). So, if a donor writes multiple separate checks during the year, it is the sum of those gifts that should be used to determine if the donor is one of the three largest.
- Alumni: Total gift amounts from the three largest living individual donors in descending order. Use hard credit
- Bequests: Total gift amounts from the three largest estates in descending order. Credit gift to the decedent, not to an organization. This category includes only realized bequests, not bequest intentions.
- Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs): Gifts hard-credited to Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs). DAFs managed by the institution also fall in this category. This includes gift income payments made by university-sponsored DAFs, not the funds used to establish them.
- Foundations: Includes personal and family foundations and other foundations and trusts, including community foundations (but not DAFs) that are private tax-exempt entities operated exclusively for charitable purposes. It does not include company-sponsored foundations, which fall under the category “Corporations.”
- Corporations: Includes corporations, partnerships, and cooperatives that have been organized for profit-making purposes, including corporations owned by individuals and families and other closely held companies.This column should also include gifts from company-sponsored foundations, gifts from industry trade associations, and the corporate component of matching gifts
New Funds Committed
New Funds Committed
New Funds Committed was first asked in the survey in 2022 and first required as of the fiscal year 2023-24 reporting cycle. New Funds Committed includes New Pledges, Outright Gifts (not associated with a pledge), and New Revocable Bequest Intentions.
New Pledges
New Pledges were also required as of the fiscal year 2023-24 reporting cycle. Prior to FY24, this was an optional question. If an institution did not answer this question, their data will not populate for this answer.
New Pledges Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: New Funds Committed
Click to Expand Data: New Pledges
Click to Expand Data: New Pledges Details
Philanthropic Support by Source
Please note that support from Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) was asked in the survey for the first time in the 2021-22 survey cycle. Prior to FY2022, DAFs were often included in Other Organizations by survey respondents but may be included in other source categories as well.
Summary
| Your Institution Change, 2023-2024 (%) | Peers Change, 2023-2024 (%) | All Respondents Change, 2023-2024 (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alumni | 18.8% | 18.9% | 7.2% |
| Corporations | -23.4% | -12.8% | -8.1% |
| Donor-Advised Funds | -35.3% | 8.0% | 60.0% |
| Foundations | 54.7% | -29.7% | 4.7% |
| Non-Alumni | 87.2% | 26.6% | 11.4% |
| Other Organizations | 36.2% | 29.7% | 6.6% |
Please note the table above examines change in respondents who responded in both 2023 and 2024, and so may differ from the charts above.
Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: Summary
Click to Expand Data: Details
Definitions
- Alumni: Former students – full- or part-time, undergraduate or graduate – who have earned some credit toward one of the degrees, certificates, or diplomas offered by the reporting institution.
- Non-Alumni Individuals: Hard-credit gifts from persons who are not classifiable as “Alumni.”
- Foundations: personal and family foundations and other foundations and trusts, including community foundations (but not DAFs) that are private tax-exempt entities operated exclusively for charitable purposes. It does not include company-sponsored foundations, which fall under the category “Corporations.”
- Corporations: Includes corporations, partnerships, and cooperatives that have been organized for profit-making purposes, including corporations owned by individuals and families and other closely held companies. This category also includes gifts from company-sponsored foundations, gifts from industry trade associations, and the corporate component of matching gifts.
- Donor-Advised Funds: Donor-Advised Funds are grantmaking public charities (charitable gift funds) that are typically managed by an institution such as a community foundation or financial services firm. If you receive a grant from a DAF, it is a gift from a DAF. Yet, the donor often advises the institution to make the payment to you. So, the transaction is triggered by the personal intent of an individual even though it is not counted as a personal gift elsewhere on the survey.
- Other Orgs: Gifts from all other organizations not defined as “Foundations” or “Corporations”. These would include entities previously coded as religious organizations or fundraising consortia as well as civic organizations, or other charities or universities. This includes gifts hard-credited to Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs). Do not credit the individual for such gifts, and do not include them in foundations or companies, regardless of where the assets are managed. DAFs managed by the institution also fall in this category. Only report as gift income payments made by university-sponsored DAFs, not the funds used to establish them.
Alumni Donors
In 2024, Sample Institution had 2,196 Alumni Donors. Your Peers had a median of 2,384 Alumni Donors, and All Respondents had a median of 1,699 Alumni Donors.
Summary
| Your Institution Change, 2023-2024 (%) | Peers Change, 2023-2024 (%) | All Respondents Change, 2023-2024 (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alumni Donors | 8.4% | -2.1% | -4.2% |
Please note the table above examines change in respondents who responded in both 2023 and 2024, and so may differ from the charts above.
Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: Summary
Click to Expand Data: Details
Definitions
- Legally Contactable Alumni, Not Solicited: living alumni, for whom you have a means of contact (phone, postal address, or email address), and who does not have a total “no contact” status (for any purpose or by any means) and are not part of Alumni Solicited or Alumni Donors.
- Alumni Solicited Not Donors: Number of alumni who were contacted in some formal manner (mail, email, phone call, visit, etc.) during the reporting year but did not make a contribution during the reporting year
- Alumni Donors: Number of alumni who made one or more contributions during the reporting year. This includes both hard and soft credit counts.
Revenue per Alumni Donor
Revenue per Alumni Donor divides Funds Received from alumni by the number of alumni donors. It can provide you a measurement of how much revenue alumni, on average, are supporting your institution.
Chart
Data
Family Foundation Giving
Family Foundations are those that have been established and continue to operate as the conduits for the charitable donations of an individual or immediate members of a family. This section uses data from the full version (as opposed to the minimal version) of the VSE and is an optional question. If an institution did not answer this question, their data will not populate for this answer.
Summary
Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: Summary
Click to Expand Data: Family Foundation Giving Details
Philanthropic Support by Purpose
Summary
| Your Institution Change, 2023-2024 (%) | Peers Change, 2023-2024 (%) | All Respondents Change, 2023-2024 (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build/Equip/Prop | -22.7% | -17.5% | -4.9% |
| Current Ops (R) | 37.7% | 2.8% | 9.7% |
| Current Ops (U) | -34.7% | -3.6% | 3.0% |
| Deferred Gifts | -100.0% | n/a | n/a |
| Endowment (R) | 42.1% | -16.5% | -1.1% |
| Endowment (U) | n/a | -100.0% | 200.0% |
| Loan Funds | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Total | 28.8% | -2.4% | 8.3% |
Please note the table above examines change in respondents who responded in both 2023 and 2024, and so may differ from the charts above.
Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: Summary
Click to Expand Data: Details
Definitions
- Build/Equip/Prop (Buildings, Equipment, Property) - Outright gifts of either real or personal property for the use of the institution; gifts made of or for buildings, other facilities, equipment, and land for use by the institution. Cash designated to procure this type of property.
- Current Ops (R) - Funds that the donor restricts for use in a particular department or a specific use.
- Current Ops (U) - Funds received without any restriction placed on their use by the donor(s). Unrestricted funds here apply to all funds for which the donor has not designated a specific unit/recipient area and that the institution or foundation can spend for purposes of its choosing.
- (Newly Established) Deferred Gifts - Count only irrevocable Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs), Charitable Gift Annuities (CGAs), Pooled-Income Funds, and Remainder Interest in Property.
- Endowment (R) - Funds that the donor uses to establish or add to an endowment restricted to a specific use, such as to endow a scholarship or faculty chair.
- Endowment (U) - Funds that the donor restricts to endowment with no restrictions on use of income.
- Loan Funds - Funds used to loan money to students or staff.
Restricted Gifts: Current Operations
Restricted Gifts for Current Operations are outright gifts for current operations that the donor has restricted for use in a particular academic division of the institution - such as a College of Medicine, School of Law, or Department of English - but upon which no further restriction has been placed. Due to survey changes starting in 2022, restricted gifts for Other includes gifts for Library, Public Service, Operations and Maintenance of Plant, and Student Life.
Summary
Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: Summary
Click to Expand Data: Details
Restricted Gifts: Endowment
This section uses data from the full version (as opposed to the minimal version) of the VSE and is an optional question. If an institution did not answer this question, their data will not populate for these charts. Your Self-Selected Peer Median for Income-Restricted gifts to Endowments may not match the Median shown for Philanthropic Support by Purpose, as this data may not contain results from all peers. Due to survey changes starting in 2022, restricted gifts for Other includes gifts for Library, Public Service, Operations and Maintenance of Plant, and Student Life.
Summary
Details
Data
Click to Expand Data: Summary
Click to Expand Data: Details
Investment and Return
Staff
Staffing counts below reflect the full time equivalents (FTEs) of paid staff by function. A single employee’s time may be spread over several functional areas. For example, if an institution has 4 full-time and 3 half-time staff working in a functional areas, their staff FTE is 5.50. The counts below do not include outside counsel or student workers, only staff who receive W-2s.
Chart
Data
Definitions
- Development/Fundraising: The primary purpose of this activity is to secure philanthropic gifts in support of the institution. Advancement units included under this section should include (where present at an institution) the annual fund, major/principal gifts, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, central development, college-based development, and educational fundraising campaign management. The fundraising costs to be reported include those incurred by central development, campaigns, institutionally related foundations, academic units, athletic associations and their affiliate organizations, and fundraising consortia. This function also includes marketing and communications for fundraising activities.
- Alumni Relations/Affairs: The primary purpose of this activity is to build long term relationships with alumni to develop champions of the institution’s mission, enhance participation in the institution’s activities, and enhance alumni financial support. The alumni relations expenditures include those incurred in institution-administered programs, independent alumni associations, and programs administered by academic units. This function also includes marketing and communications for alumni relations.
- Advancement Services: Advancement Services functions include database management, reporting, prospect research, and gift processing.
- Advancement Management: The primary purpose of this activity is to provide multidiscipline advancement leadership and operational support. The chief advancement officer and his or her support staff should be included under this category.
Expenditures
Expenditures reflect the total costs related to Salaries, Benefits, Current Operations Expenditures, and Capital Expenditures for each of the following categories: Development/Fundraising, Alumni Relations/Affairs, Advancement Services, Advancement Management.
Chart
Data
Definitions
- Development/Fundraising: The primary purpose of this activity is to secure philanthropic gifts in support of the institution. Advancement units included under this section should include (where present at an institution) the annual fund, major/principal gifts, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, central development, college-based development, and educational fundraising campaign management. The fundraising costs to be reported include those incurred by central development, campaigns, institutionally related foundations, academic units, athletic associations and their affiliate organizations, and fundraising consortia. This function also includes marketing and communications for fundraising activities.
- Alumni Relations/Affairs: The primary purpose of this activity is to build long term relationships with alumni to develop champions of the institution’s mission, enhance participation in the institution’s activities, and enhance alumni financial support. The alumni relations expenditures include those incurred in institution-administered programs, independent alumni associations, and programs administered by academic units. This function also includes marketing and communications for alumni relations activities.
- Advancement Services: Advancement Services functions include database management, reporting, prospect research, and gift processing.
- Advancement Management: The primary purpose of this activity is to provide multidisciplinary advancement leadership and operational support. The chief advancement officer and his or her support staff should be included under this category.
New Funds Committed per Staff FTE
This was an optional survey question. The following graph shows the scatter plot of New Funds Committed and Staff FTE. Each dot on the graph represents a single institution with different colors representing your institution, your peers, and all survey participants. Please use the drop-down menu to switch between development/fundraising staff or total staff.
The “Average Relationship” regression line quantifies the relationship between Staff FTEs and New Funds Committed for all survey participating institutions. If a dot is above the line, that means the institution has more staff than the regional average for that amount of New Funds Committed. Dots below the line, suggest the institution has less staff than the regional average for that amount of New Funds Committed.
Chart
Data
Return on Investment
ROI
Return on Investment (ROI) is a useful comparative metric which allows you to understand sustainability of investment as well as other factors such as risk, investment timeline, and external influence. ROI is calculated as: \({\text{New Funds Committed - Expenses}\over\text{Expenses}}\).
Please use the drop-down menu to switch between development/fundraising costs or total costs
Cost to Raise $1
While ROI focuses on the overall effectiveness of a fundraising campaign by comparing the revenue raised to the expenses incurred, while the cost to raise one dollar specifically measures how much it costs to obtain a single dollar in revenue. Cost to Raise One Dollar is calculated as: \({\text{Expenses}\over\text{New Funds Committed}}\).
Please use the drop-down menu to switch between development/fundraising costs or total costs