Fundraising Update: A Year of Extraordinary Generosity
September 5, 2019
To the Yale Community,
As we settle into the new academic year, I am delighted to share great news about the support we have received for our work in realizing Yale’s mission to improve the world today and for future generations. In the year ending on June 30, 2019, more than 46,000 alumni, parents, and friends helped us raise $826.8 million in new commitments, a figure that accounts for new gifts and pledges to the university. This amount is second only to the final year of the last campaign, when we raised $861.9 million. In addition, we set a record for cash raised in a single year at Yale, with $662.8 million, which is well above the previous record of $600.3 million.
These fundraising achievements are a thrilling endorsement of the academic priorities we set together as a university, and that I announced in 2016. From scholarship on our democracy to research on how the universe began, our faculty and students are working collaboratively, boldly, and wisely to solve some of the greatest challenges in our nation and the world.
As part of the total amount we raised, the Yale Alumni Fund set a new record of $42.9 million in annual gifts supporting Yale College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the twelve professional schools. Giving was strong from alumni across all decades, including Yale College reunion classes. Six classes reached the top ten, all-time, for their respective reunions, and three of these classes set records.
Support for talented faculty and students across the university was robust. We were able to endow eleven professorships in 2019 for faculty members who are teaching and contributing knowledge in fields spanning architecture, the environmental sciences, global affairs, medicine, and more. And $100.9 million in commitments was directed to financial aid—$38.7 million for undergraduates and the balance for students in the graduate school and twelve professional schools. This will help Yale to continue to welcome and provide unparalleled educational opportunities to the most promising students of all backgrounds—future leaders who will work for a better world.
Overall, $435 million, or 53 percent of the total money raised, was directed to the endowment, the key resource supporting professorships, scholarships, curriculum development, and other essential functions of the university. Our expertly managed endowment will sustain Yale’s current operating levels, and strong fundraising results, like this year’s, will ensure that we will be able to weather economic downturns and to recruit and retain transformative faculty members, expand financial aid, and further enhance our academic programs.
I offer my most heartfelt thanks to the alumni, parents, and friends who support Yale. Year after year, the generosity of this community is a vital resource for students, faculty, and staff, who work tirelessly to contribute to the world through scholarship, education, preservation, and practice. I also am deeply grateful to members of staff, especially those in the Office of Development, and faculty—as well as students and alumni volunteers—who have given their time and expertise as ambassadors for Yale and to raise funds for the university’s mission.
The Yale community is extraordinary—ready and able to set a foundation commensurate in strength to the height of the aspirations it supports. We begin this semester fully energized, prepared anew to take on our efforts to deepen human understanding, pursue truth, and address pressing domestic and international challenges. I look forward with excitement to what we will accomplish together over the next year and wish you the best as you return to your studies and work.
Sincerely,
Peter Salovey
President
Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology
Fundraising Update: A Year of Extraordinary Generosity
To the Yale Community,
As we settle into the new academic year, I am delighted to share great news about the support we have received for our work in realizing Yale’s mission to improve the world today and for future generations. In the year ending on June 30, 2019, more than 46,000 alumni, parents, and friends helped us raise $826.8 million in new commitments, a figure that accounts for new gifts and pledges to the university. This amount is second only to the final year of the last campaign, when we raised $861.9 million. In addition, we set a record for cash raised in a single year at Yale, with $662.8 million, which is well above the previous record of $600.3 million.
These fundraising achievements are a thrilling endorsement of the academic priorities we set together as a university, and that I announced in 2016. From scholarship on our democracy to research on how the universe began, our faculty and students are working collaboratively, boldly, and wisely to solve some of the greatest challenges in our nation and the world.
As part of the total amount we raised, the Yale Alumni Fund set a new record of $42.9 million in annual gifts supporting Yale College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the twelve professional schools. Giving was strong from alumni across all decades, including Yale College reunion classes. Six classes reached the top ten, all-time, for their respective reunions, and three of these classes set records.
Support for talented faculty and students across the university was robust. We were able to endow eleven professorships in 2019 for faculty members who are teaching and contributing knowledge in fields spanning architecture, the environmental sciences, global affairs, medicine, and more. And $100.9 million in commitments was directed to financial aid—$38.7 million for undergraduates and the balance for students in the graduate school and twelve professional schools. This will help Yale to continue to welcome and provide unparalleled educational opportunities to the most promising students of all backgrounds—future leaders who will work for a better world.
Overall, $435 million, or 53 percent of the total money raised, was directed to the endowment, the key resource supporting professorships, scholarships, curriculum development, and other essential functions of the university. Our expertly managed endowment will sustain Yale’s current operating levels, and strong fundraising results, like this year’s, will ensure that we will be able to weather economic downturns and to recruit and retain transformative faculty members, expand financial aid, and further enhance our academic programs.
I offer my most heartfelt thanks to the alumni, parents, and friends who support Yale. Year after year, the generosity of this community is a vital resource for students, faculty, and staff, who work tirelessly to contribute to the world through scholarship, education, preservation, and practice. I also am deeply grateful to members of staff, especially those in the Office of Development, and faculty—as well as students and alumni volunteers—who have given their time and expertise as ambassadors for Yale and to raise funds for the university’s mission.
The Yale community is extraordinary—ready and able to set a foundation commensurate in strength to the height of the aspirations it supports. We begin this semester fully energized, prepared anew to take on our efforts to deepen human understanding, pursue truth, and address pressing domestic and international challenges. I look forward with excitement to what we will accomplish together over the next year and wish you the best as you return to your studies and work.
Sincerely,
Peter Salovey
President
Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology