Higher ed institutions that reported slowing down their outreach during the recent pandemic now face a decreased pool of potential donors and are forced to play catch-up. To avoid finding themselves behind the eight ball, institutions should know how to effectively fundraise if—or when—things fly south.

EAB senior director Dr. R. Fleming Puckett worked with schools’ chief advancement officers who have endured multiple recessions in the 21st century, and here are some of the biggest lessons learned.

More from UB: How do colleges hit record-level fundraising? It’s all about the alumni

Continue to network with prospects

Schools may choose to cut their advancement budget when navigating rough economic waters, but that doesn’t mean they should stop reaching out. Donors are more likely to give when they’re still “warm” from a recent function, according to Puckett, which means networking events continue to be important even on a shoestring budget.

It isn’t about whether schools should be willing to host a social mixer or virtual meeting during tough times, it’s about how to maximize the potential of every dollar spent when hosting one.

“What we’re seeing is more institutions saying we need to understand the ROI of our events, whether they’re online or in person,” said Puckett. “We need to understand more about what we’re putting into these, why we are hosting these, and what we’re getting out of them.”

Approach donors with optimism

Recessions affect individuals and organizations differently, and the only way to truly gauge how feasible a donation would be from a prospect is by asking.

“Advancement leaders should trust their development officers to read those relationships and know when it’s the right time to put an idea in front of a particular prospect,” said Puckett. “We will learn as we go which donors are and are not able to give to those initiatives at any given moment, but shutting down on the advancement side really seems to be a bad idea.”

While it’s important not to be tone-deaf, assuming no one is in the market for philanthropy can have serious repercussions on a school’s advancement efforts in the years to come.

Appeal to donor interest

Soliciting an individual, say, an alumnus/a, to donate during uncertain times may not be as effective as asking a robust institution, so it’s important to understand how to effectively appeal to individuals. Foundations and corporations view their philanthropy as an investment, and the key for schools to win their interest in both cases lies in the school’s ability to flex its accomplishments and potential capabilities if gifted funding.

“Universities and colleges as well do wonderful work that advances knowledge and helps solve global challenges, but they’re often terrible at telling people about it. They’re not good at bragging,” Puckett says. “Just getting the word out about the great work they’re doing could help find individuals and organizations who would like to be a part of that and feel like they are a part of making a difference in the world.”

As schools increasingly rely on foundations and corporate and community donors beyond their typical alumni base, it’s even more important for schools to view their endowments as money invested in them for worldly gain.

Fundraising is only possible with dedicated staff on the payroll

Schools may misstep and lay off advancement staff to remedy a contracted budget, but Puckett believes that decision leaves money—a lot of it—on the table. At the typical higher ed institution, EAB’s research has shown that every full-time equivalent advancement staff member correlates to $788,000 in fundraising production. Advancement staff in development support and advancement services, two administrative roles that boost fundraising efficiency, correlate with another $1.3 million and $859,000, respectively.

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According to data released by the solutions provider Anthology, more than $8.5 million was raised by higher education institutions using the platform Encompass alone. More than 34,400 charitable donations were given to colleges of all sizes with an average gift amount of $247. Furthermore, nearly 250 institutions received 30 or more donations in the span of one day, and 30% of donations were made using digital wallets.

Although the numbers are slightly lower than in previous pandemic years, Dr. Mirko Widenhorn, senior director of engagement strategy for Anthology, noted a “continued strong overall performance among institutions using Anthology Encompass,” he said in a statement.

He attributed the 4% decrease in giving to the current state of the economy and the number of organizations vying for donor support. However, the numbers still show a 9% increase in donations compared to 2019 figures, an indication of continued interest in supporting higher education. Yet, according to Widenhorn, it’s possible there are signs of a “slight slowdown” in giving compared to the past two years.

In addition, higher ed institutions that took to digitally driven methods of contribution performed seemingly well.

Penn State, for example, is celebrating the event on its webpage, showcasing the total amount raised and the number of donors. So far, the school has raised over $1.2 million with more than 10,600 donors.

Kent State, another university that saw tremendous success this year, takes a unique approach to Giving Tuesday. In its eighth year of the tradition, the school uses the entire month of November to campaign while adding new incentives to the mix each Tuesday. Kent concluded its fundraising efforts with a total amount of $3.6 million raised. Similar to the overall figures, the school saw less than it did last year when it raised a record-breaking $7.71 million.

Using these methods of gamification, for instance, leaderboards, competitions and challenges, according to Widenhorn, helps encourage increased support.

This year marked Giving Tuesday’s 10th anniversary. Its inception stemmed from the idea of creating a day when people could have the opportunity to give back following the two major days of consumption: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since then, it’s become a viral campaign as generosity shifted from hyper-local events to the public sphere.

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Two universities stand out amongst the crowd for their continuous ability to receive record levels of donations and charitable gifts, no matter the storm: Temple University and The University of Alabama. What makes them so successful? Two things: persistence and alumni.

Temple University

In the fiscal year 2022, the university received $115 million in donations, which set a school record for the most gifts raised during a single fiscal year. Additionally, it marked the institution’s third straight year of surpassing $100 million in charitable donations. Most of the funds go toward student support through scholarships at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as student prizes, awards and internship support.

According to Mary Burke, vice president for institutional advancement at TU who has long stood on the frontlines of fundraising for much of her career, this achievement speaks true to Temple’s mission and the passion of its alumni.

“People I meet feel very passionately about Temple’s mission, and that has never changed,” she says. “As we do a better job of reaching out to people and communicating that mission and engaging with them, they’re more receptive to supporting that mission. Even in times like we’re in right now, our alumni want to give students the same opportunity they had. They recognize that Temple serves a different kind of student than many other universities, and they feel passionate about supporting them so that they can succeed.”

While it may come as no surprise that alumni rest at the heart of college fundraising, fostering long-lasting connections with those people is essential for advancing any higher education institution.

“Things in fundraising have changed, but one thing remains the same, especially in terms of gifts at a somewhat higher level,” Burke explains. “We really try to focus on engaging people individually so that they might consider creating a legacy here at Temple. The fundamentals haven’t changed in that area—people want to personally connect and understand the need and the impact they can have.”

Even during the course of the pandemic, she adds, they found even more ways to connect with donors through virtual one-on-one meetings to continue their mission of developing relationships and having meaningful conversations with their alumni.

As for Burke, she enjoys digging deep into the data to find where opportunities for advancement lie. For example, she says data can help to reveal patterns associated with people’s tendency to donate. “Most people who make a large gift have made a gift before,” she says. “You can run all kinds of data analytics and see things like, for example, someone who makes a gift seven years in a row at any level is more likely to consider making a large gift the next time.”

Despite the university’s success in exceeding its fundraising goals year to year, its work isn’t done, according to Burke. Many donations come as a result of the strong support of the Philadelphia community, corporations to a certain extent, friends of the university and the health system. Yet the potential to connect with alumni continues to grow.

‘We see a great opportunity in engaging with our alumni as donors,” she says. “From our perspective, I think maybe compared to other universities we’ve perhaps underperformed in terms of the achievement of giving, particularly at the higher level from alumni, but that’s where the opportunity is and that’s where we’re going to try and focus our efforts. Alumni are passionate about Temple, so we want to make sure that we can leverage that.”

Above all, Burke attributes two factors contributing to the university’s repeated success: persistence and keeping it simple. “As somebody who has been a fundraiser and a frontline fundraiser for much of my career as opposed to a manager, perseverance is the most important thing,” she says. “Alumni are alumni for their entire lives, so we need to make sure that we don’t give up on people in terms of their willingness to consider giving back and creating a legacy at a place that had an important role in their lives. And I think focusing on the basics, which is trying to make those personal connections.”

The University of Alabama

“Our fundraising success has not come by accident,” says Bob Pierce, vice president for advancement at UA. The university is known for its ability to produce substantial fundraising numbers, making its most recent achievement even more impressive.

In the fiscal year 2022, UA raised nearly $226 million in charitable gifts and pledges, setting a fundraising record for the university. Similar to Temple’s perspective, the accomplishment is accredited to those whose heart forever belongs to The Capstone.

“The new fundraising record is an incredible testament to the passion and dedication of University of Alabama alumni and friends,” says Pierce. “The record fundraising year was accomplished following the public announcement of The Rising Tide Capital Campaign in September 2021. I believe this added a level of focus and enthusiasm to our efforts and prompted our donors to be even more philanthropic and heighten their impact on the University through their charitable contributions.”

The campaign, Pierce adds, has measurable goals in four areas that are critical to the university’s success: scholarships, endowed faculty positions, enhanced facilities and athletics. “We are seeing tremendous progress in reaching every one of these goals with almost four full years remaining in the campaign,” he says.

Since the arrival of the university’s president, Dr. Stuart Bell, in 2015, the college has doubled its five-year average in fundraising numbers. In FY 2022, the university had an impressive total of 60,000 committed donors. While that number is crucial to their success, Pierce also speaks to their ability to create an infrastructure and environment that promotes philanthropy.

“You cannot reach this level without everything being in place,” he explains. “We have a clear vision provided by Dr. Bell, a motivated team of volunteer campaign leaders and fundraising staff, projects and initiatives worthy of charitable investment, and success stories to demonstrate the impact of giving. It all comes together to provide a formula for fundraising success. When Dr. Bell arrived at UA in 2015, the infrastructure was not in place to launch a $1.5 billion capital campaign. He provided the resources necessary to grow the fundraising staff, implement the processes and procedures required to properly solicit and manage gifts as well as the tools to grow the fundraising enterprise. These investments are obviously paying dividends.”

Similarly, UA’s largest gifts come from those who have an existing relationship with the university. According to Pierce, very rarely is a substantial donation made from someone out of the blue. This year, the largest gift of $20 million to support the newly proposed performing arts center came from a family who were previous donors to the university.

“The family’s charitable commitment of $20 million will help make this critical need for our campus a reality, and we could not be more grateful to them,” says Pierce. “They are wonderful people, and their connection to the performing arts was clear and obvious. We simply provided the opportunity for them to make an impact on the arts in the state of Alabama.”

If the overarching theme wasn’t made clear, know this: fundraising is all about establishing relationships with those who love your college. Be persistent, and never give up on those who want to make a legacy at their beloved institution.

More from UB: What’s in store for college enrollment if affirmative action ends?

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In a recent survey conducted by the accounting firm BDO, leaders across 47 colleges and universities were asked to list their top priorities for 2023. Here’s what they had to say

Of the options below, which are among your top three priorities for the next 12 months?

• 81% reported improving enrollment and student retention.
• 74% are seeking new sources of revenue and funding.
• 55% want to improve staff retention and recruitment.

What’s surprising, however, is that such a low number of college leaders chose student and staff diversity as a top priority:

• 15% aim to increase board or staff diversity.
• 4% say they want to enhance board expertise.
• 4% reported looking to increase the diversity of the student body.

According to recent data from the National Student Clearinghouse, enrollment among undergraduates has dropped by nearly 1.4 million, and enrollment numbers continue to dip.

“Given this drastic decline, it is not a surprise that colleges and universities plan to prioritize student retention and enrollment,” the survey reads. “While the 2008 recession correlated with increased enrollment for graduate degrees, an economic downturn may not have a similar effect this time due to costs and shifting attitudes about higher education.”

Since leaders have shown a great deal of concern for tackling student enrollment, here’s a look at how respondents say they’re addressing this issue:

• 68% say they’re implementing campaigns to encourage potential students to enroll.
• 55% are lowering tuition.
• 55% are offering new degrees and courses.
• 47% are increasing hybrid learning opportunities.

“Beset by many of the same challenges as other nonprofits, colleges and universities are grappling with inflation, the anticipated economic downturn and a competitive recruitment and retention environment,” the survey reads. “They also are contending with challenges unique to their organizations: Many smaller institutions are grappling with declining student enrollment, and colleges and universities of all sizes are navigating a triumphant return to campus life while balancing hybrid course options amid the ongoing pandemic.”

College leaders represented in the survey come from institutions that lie generally in the middle of the market. Nearly half of these institutions receive between $25 million and $75 million annually in revenue. Around 53% report between $512 million and $200 million in assets.

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The latter being one of the most difficult but essential tasks, the report highlights ways to keep alumni active while utilizing them to help increase institutional value. Anthology leaders note that involves a mix of communications, social media and programming initiatives—some that are tried-and-true and others that might be new—to assist in recruiting and mentoring students and ensuring levels of giving.

“Alumni, especially recent graduates, are a potential bridge to prospective students and to current students exploring careers,” said Jim Milton, chairman and CEO at Anthology. “Our research makes clear a personalized approach to alumni engagement is critical for building impactful, two-way relationships that create value beyond traditional giving and engagement campaigns.”

But if alumni are at arm’s length, or not really in the pipeline, how do colleges can get them more involved? How should they reach out to them? And what might alums be expecting or looking for when reconnecting? Those are all questions Anthology hoped to uncover in the survey.

Two statistics immediately jump out. The first is that 25% of all respondents said they do not recall their institutions reaching out to them in the past year. Institutions clearly are not leveraging one of the most impactful resources they have. The second is that 82% said they would be willing to reconnect with their college or university. Half of them said they are already contributing.

More from UB: Leveling silos: Anthology CEO discusses creating data cohesion for higher ed, students

Here are some of the results and answers to key questions provided in the Anthology study:

Could be outreach efforts holding institutions back? If your institution is emailing alumni, that is a smart choice, according to 61% of respondents. Social media and standard mail are OK ways of keeping communication alive but far less effective than email. Either way, institutions should be wary of blitzing alums too frequently. Avoid bombarding them with messages several times a week or once a week. Keep it to every other week or monthly.

What are they interested in? A wide range of items catch their attention. But they said what lures them in most with communications are alumni updates, discount offers, in-person alumni events and networking. A good portion of alums also said they like virtual events, so it might be worth exploring both options, especially for those who can’t make it to campus.

But what the majority of alumni really want is a chance to talk with current or new students. Many of them say they would be willing to help in mentoring and recruitment efforts. Given the shortages across higher ed in career services and the needs of admissions offices, there might be instances where alumni can provide assistance. A little more than 10% indicated they could provide monetary help.

How important is personalization? Very important, according to Anthology researchers, who note that around 40% prefer hyper-specific information around their areas of interest.

What about programming? The highest percentage of alumni want to see networking opportunities and that includes face-to-face gatherings. Career-related interests was No. 2 on the list, especially for the youngest graduates. Either way, those are both good opportunities for alumni to be connected long term.

How can you get alumni to dig deep? 30% of alumni surveyed said they gave some form of donation to their institution in the past 18 months, and more than a third of them responded in kind after getting an email from their college. The rest were lured in by two old-school approaches: personal letters and phone calls. Social media was fourth on the list. Anthology noted that more than half of alums are willing to give now, and most want to donate to students directly. So why not reach out?

“The more that institutions can meet alumni expectations, the deeper their engagement, and the more likely that alumni will also support the institution financially,” said Mirko Widenhorn, study author and senior director of engagement strategy.

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Nearly half of all gifts given to institutions of higher education do not come from alumni, showing the importance of administrators and leaders to create new connections because the next transformational donor may have no ties to their colleges and universities.

That insight, along with deep data into who is investing and why donations are made to institutions, is outlined in the new Study of Principal Gifts to U.S. Colleges and Universities done by the nonprofit Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and Bank of America.

“The study shows that institutions of all types should be vigilant in identifying and cultivating supporters,” said Cara Giacomini, CASE’s Vice President, Data, and Research and Technology. “One can never be sure when—or from what source—a gift may come that can have a dramatic impact on the institution for years to come.”

More than 20% of all donations are given by individuals with fewer than three years invested in a college or university, though nearly half of big givers had ties to specific institutions for a decade or more. The majority of those who do make sizeable donations said they hope it inspires others to do the same.

Though not always headline makers, principal gifts can be transformational, as the median value of the largest ones has grown by 31% over a 16-year period (2005-2021) to $10 million. Most of the gifts come from foundations, private donors or trusts, while cash is given 40% of the time. Principal gifts comprise about 9% of the overall support an institution receives, with community colleges even more reliant on them at 12%.

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While new buildings and academic programs were popular choices for donors, the majority of gifts went toward investing in students, including scholarships and financial aid. That was especially true over the past two years. The arts and humanities, STEM fields and business/entrepreneurship all drew high interest from givers. Part or all of the investments in some fashion were targeted to endowments.

“Donors have continued to generously support causes and institutions they care about despite the stresses experienced during the pandemic and its aftermath,” said William Jarvis at Bank of America’s Philanthropic Solutions Group. “In the years ahead, institutions will need to invest in discerning these donor’s interests and values in order to continue to grow major gifts.”

And that takes time. Aside from building relationships, which may happen across many years, it takes nearly 20 months from that first hint of an investment to have that official gift stamped. Chief advancement officers and presidents are almost always involved in the process, but it may involve other stakeholders, such as deans, faculty chairs and even athletic directors.

The biggest single gift from an individual fluctuated from 2005 to 2021, with Stanford University receiving the largest at $341 million. One institution received $300 million last year. The top ones all have eclipsed more than $100 million in each of the past 10 cycles. Median gifts from individuals from the 25th percentile to the 75th were all over the map, from $230,000 to $2.7 million last year.

Foundations play a major role in giving as well, with large gifts often surpassing $100 million over the past decade, including one notable outlier–the $1.2 billion given by Bloomberg Philanthropies to Johns Hopkins University just prior to the pandemic. Foundation support overall has increased steadily over the past five years, tying its high from 2015 of 9.2% in 2021. The average principal gift has jumped by more than $200,000 over the past 16 years to $836,000 last year.

Within the report, CASE highlighted a pair of surveys–a previous one on voluntary support of education (VSE) and this one on principal gift giving. It also features a number of individual stories of giving, including how the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., landed a $15 million donation to go toward virtual reality and why donors chose to give $17 million toward the performing arts at the California State University at Northridge.

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“The majority of students coming out of public K-12 education in this country are coming from low-income and poverty-level backgrounds,” he says. “That means that the American educational system is now defined by poverty. Everything is a struggle.”

For students who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities, that struggle is even more pronounced, not just the inequities between certain institutions but those that exist in their own neighborhoods, where income levels and resources remain low. Inflation may be the dagger that prevents some of them from rising or advancing through postsecondary education. It is an issue that only national policy might solve. But leaders said entities other than HBCUs—the foundation for advancement for many Black students—must do more to help.

“The trauma has to be addressed,” Sorrell says. “We keep putting Band-Aids on fissures. We talk about issues with not having broadband, with not having laptops. But if you can’t afford to pay your electricity bill, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to have to speak to these issues in a very concrete way. HBCUs are administering to communities that start out in places where students are struggling and their families are struggling. That’s not just an HBCU issue. That’s now an American issue.”

Sorrell and two other esteemed HBCU presidents—Walter Kimbrough at Dillard University and David Thomas at Morehouse College—joined Ellucian CEO Laura Ipsen at the ASU-GSV Summit for a discussion on “HBCUs at the Leading Edge,” highlighting the transformative work their institutions are doing to prepare students for the future while putting Band-Aids on challenges around issues such as mental health, social and racial injustice and finances.

“People three decades ago rightfully thought of themselves as middle class when it comes to affording a high-quality education. Now, most cannot afford it,” Thomas said. “In the African-American community, fewer than 3% of Black families could afford to pay the full sticker price of a Morehouse College education. It’s not just poverty, but income inequality. For leaders of historically Black colleges, we’ve stayed out of that conversation about national policy and state government policy. Is there an agenda that we need to work on as leaders of these institutions?”

Education an equalizer?

One of the main themes of the session was whether education was truly the great equalizer that could get under-resourced students to the same level as their counterparts. Sorrell says no. “Everyone doesn’t receive the same type of education. Even if they did, they don’t get to that education in the same way. If you are a student who works three jobs, your experience is going to be radically different from the student that doesn’t even have to do work-study. You may both have the same degree from the institution, but you will not have both had the same educational experience.”

Thomas believes it can be, but there are significant impediments still facing HBCU students. “Education is the great elevator up. It doesn’t guarantee that everybody has the same starting line. But it does have the capacity to move everyone beyond the linear projection of their starting point … assuming they’re not from privileged backgrounds. Historically black colleges and universities have done a great job of realizing the starting point of our students and accelerating that trajectory for them. Where they wind up is well beyond what we would predict.”

More from UB: High marks for HBCUs: The colleges that are the best academic stewards for students

But those resources and levels of care only stretch so far, especially when compared with highly selective private institutions, and that shouldn’t be the case, the three leaders said.

“We have a different level of calculus in terms of what we have to do,” Kimbrough said. “We’re not only dealing with the challenges of educating those students but dealing with all the wraparound services. HBCUs, we do the most with a little, and that’s got to change. We can cite statistics about how great we’re doing. At some point, we have to have a conversation to say, how can a sector keep producing like this, and we give them nothing to work with?”

At Dillard, 70% of all students are Pell Grant eligible or double the national average. Dealing with the impacts of hurricanes and the pandemic in New Orleans more profoundly, Kimbrough said as many as 60% of students may have been suffering from food insecurity, for example, in the past two years plus. Yet, being on the HBCU campus was still better than the alternative. Because of its smart allocation of resources, Kimbrough reiterated, “Some [students] said, I’m safer in New Orleans than at home in Chicago … having a place to stay and having guaranteed meals.”

Invest where it can make a difference

So how are HBCUs finding a way to beat the odds and provide these supports? Partners are essential. So is ingenuity.

“We created a program called the Village Program,” Sorrell said. “If you’re a Pell Grant student, with a 3.0 or better, you are automatically admitted to Paul Quinn, but you get to bring two of your family members and/or friends with you. You bring your village. You build a team. Let’s create depth in your family relationships in your community and touch more people. It’s amazing to see their families respond because it’s saying to some of them for the first time, ‘We believe in you, too.’”

Thomas said Morehouse is “investing our scarce resources in that student experience and aligning incentives to really be focused on students first and figuring out where they are. We are much better at using technology to bring them to where we want them to be by the time they cross the finish line.” But he knows what his students are up against. “When you go to many of those [elite] places, they look like country clubs, because those schools can afford a different level of investment in their physical infrastructure than you will find in Morehouse College, even though we can stand toe to toe with any university in the country in terms of what our students or alumni have gone on to do professionally and for the country.”

Dillard has seen enrollment rates jump by 10 points and graduation rates by 20% because of various initiatives in the past few years, but outside help is still necessary to continue those trends. That means giving institutions the capital they need, instead of giving it to those that already have it.

“We need to have a radical change in ideology about how we invest in this small subset of institutions that continuously performs above any others,” Kimbrough said. “We’ve got to have uncomfortable conversations. Philanthropy is going to be key, but it’s giving to the people who are really doing the heavy lifts. And stop celebrating every time Harvard gets another $400 million. ‘Oh, that’s great.’ No, it’s not. It’s horrible.”

Sorrell agreed. “How many times are we going to praise people for doing the absolute easiest thing they could do with their money? Then we want to hold them up as if they are amazing. You’re not amazing. Maybe you earned all that money yourself. But chances are, you were on third base and you scored. If you want to be amazing, do something amazing. Invest in a set of schools that are doing incredible work.”

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Stanford’s new Doerr School for Sustainability coming in September will combine the strength of its current institutes on the environment and energy with newly formed academic departments and an accelerator to help tackle climate change through innovation and public policy. A portion of the $1.7 billion in total donations will go toward the construction of two LEED Platinum facilities to form its own “Sustainability Commons” that will be paired with two existing buildings and connected by a walkway with a rooftop garden.

The changing climate has become front of mind for Stanford and for leaders across higher education, with many signed on to Second Nature’s Climate Leadership Commitment to do their part to foster sustainability. According to data from the nonprofit International Rescue Committee, more than 40 million people are facing hunger now and 200 million may be displaced in less than 30 years because of global warming. Meanwhile, the United States has done more to harm the world with emissions than any other nation, so initiatives like the one at Stanford are needed and very much in the wheelhouse of an institution with broad reach and resources.

“Stanford is making a bold, actionable and enduring commitment to tackling humanity’s greatest challenge, and we have a deep conviction in its ambition and abilities,” the Doerrs said in a statement. “Today’s real and pressing challenges—not least, solving our climate crisis—require that knowledge be channeled toward the building of practical, implementable solutions. With a deep track record in groundbreaking scholarship and impact and a critical mass of subject experts and innovators, Stanford is perfectly positioned to make a measurable difference in climate and sustainability challenges. This is the decisive decade, and we must act with full speed and scale.”

Stanford plans to hire 90 additional faculty members in the short term and 60 more over the next 10 years as it builds out the school, backed by another donation from Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang and wife Akiko Yamazaki. Those who are already involved in its School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences or work in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy will simply shift their roles into the new sustainability school. Officials said they also are creating a separate institute on societies that will be focused on economic and political impacts.

“Growing our faculty is critical as we are creating wholly new departments, expanding areas of scholarship, and ensuring that diverse voices and experiences are informing our scholarship,” Stanford Provost Persis Drell said. “I’m tremendously grateful to Akiko and Jerry for enabling us to move quickly on our ambitious hiring goal, which will be essential to addressing the full gamut of climate and sustainability challenges.”

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The school will be led by new dean Arun Majumdar, a professor and former co-director at the Precourt Institute who chairs the advisory board for the U.S. Secretary of Energy and was formerly Vice President of Energy for Google. He also had higher ed stops at Arizona State University, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Among his many goals are to build partnerships, increase research and innovation, and maintain focus on planetary change. “As is often said, we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children,” Majumdar said. “We must create a future in which humans and nature thrive together.”

Stanford is among an elite group of institutions that have dedicated large initiatives to climate change, including Columbia University’s Columbia Climate School, Yale University’s School of the Environment and Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Many more address the topic head on through curriculum, forums or institutes on campuses, including Harvard’s Center for the Environment and the University of Maine’s School of Earth and Climate Sciences.

Stanford’s new school will be as all-encompassing and intense as it gets, with the gift from the Doerrs helping to boost the number of “graduate students and postdoctoral fellows—tomorrow’s leading climate and sustainability scientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and advocates.” This idea came to fruition after years of planning, including the submission of 2,800 proposals around sustainability, with President Marc Tessier-Levigne and a committee recognizing the impact a standalone school might have.

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The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation announced it is contributing a total of $2 million to 12 HBCUs to help support new scholarships for Black students over the next five years, helping them overcome barriers such as systemic racism and inequality in education.

“Students represent the best of the human spirit—passion, curiosity and boundless dreams,” said Ralph Lauren, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Ralph Lauren Corporation. “When all students have an equal chance to succeed, their dreams become realities and inspire us all.”

There are two unique twists to the deal. The first is that while Morehouse College and Spelman College have been named two of the recipients, the other 10 will be chosen by the Foundation and the United Negro College Fund. The second is that those institutions will be selected based on their unmet financial need, enrollments and their existing academic pathways that can lead to opportunities in retail, especially in fashion.

“African American communities remain disproportionately impacted by the lack of resources needed to go to and through college,” said Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF. “Recognizing that need, the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation is fueling our ability to move the needle further for deserving, talented students who want to earn degrees but just lack the resources to do so.”

That includes a segment of the Morehouse College student population (60%) that continues to be impacted by financial hardship, with families earning $40,000 or less.

“Morehouse has a common cause with partners like the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation who believe that equity begins with education,” said Morehouse President David Thomas. “Through educational investments, which help elevate the creativity and professional competence of talented students of color, we today empower the innovators who will develop the fashions, products and services the world will demand tomorrow.”

Building inclusive and equitable career paths is a mission for the foundation and the company, which is continuing to try to build a diverse workforce through internships, mentoring and its own programs for the next generation of Black students.

“This new scholarship will allow high-achieving students in need of financial support to graduate with less debt, ready to step into their careers,” said Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell. “We’re extremely proud to join forces with the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation in its effort to increase equity and access in the fashion industry.”

Ralph Lauren is one of scores of corporations, along with Google ($50 million) and individuals putting their money behind HBCUs and their students. The most prominent of the gifts has come in waves from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, who has given more than $4 billion to HBCUs and causes that support infrastructure improvements and traditionally underserved populations. Google also gave $50 million over the summer. And this week, actor Samuel L. Jackson and wife LaTanya gave $5 million to Spelman to help renovate the fine arts building on campus.

And there is more on the way, although delays likely will push big federal promises into next year. Having already passed through the House of Representatives, the Build Back Better plan in its current form designates $2 billion to HBCUs via funding for Title III programs, plus a likely $1 billion allotted for research and development infrastructure. There are other monies available but the final amounts are still to be determined.

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According to data released by Anthology, one of the many doing tabulations of the Thanksgiving week event, the total dollars raised by colleges and universities alone that use the platform Encompass eclipsed more than $9.5 million. From small to large institutions, there were 37,000-plus individual donations for an average gift of $260. Overall, $2.7 billion was gifted to various missions throughout the U.S., including those unrelated to higher ed.

Though its total monetary number was down a bit from 2020, Anthology officials noted that was not unexpected given the outpouring of support that occurred during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last fall. A year later, with need still paramount, those amounts still surpassed 2019 numbers by more than $2 million.

“I think it was a really good day, the second-highest we’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Mirko Widenhorn, Senior Director of Engagement Strategy at Anthology. “There were six institutions that had over 1,000 donations, with the largest having almost 2,500. If we were to take this, plus all of those individual Days of Giving we see throughout the year, the amount of funds raised for higher education is incredible.”

Individual campuses had their own amazing stories of giving to share:

• Kent State University brought in an astonishing $7.7 million, including $6.25 million from legacy gifts and $1.3 million from outright gifts and matches. “Kent State donors have been raising the bar on Giving Tuesday donations for years, but this year is truly remarkable,” said Valoree Vargo, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement.
• Eastern Michigan University hauled in an impressive $2.2 million during its Giving Trueday from 800 donors, thanks to a huge push to promote 50 different campaigns on its site.
• The University of Central Florida saw a transformational gift from an alumnus of $1 million that will benefit first-generation students in its College of Business. All told, it received $1.16 million.
• The University of Scranton saw close to $50,000 in donations come in from its community that will be largely targeted to THR1VE, a program tailored to first-gen students.
• One of the most pressing needs affecting students, food insecurity, was tackled by a number of campus groups across the country. The Rutgers University Foundation reported that it received more than $54,000 from nearly 800 donors that will go toward its system’s multiple food pantries.
• Boston University raised more than $400,000 from 2,000-plus donors that will benefit numerous campaigns, including its general scholarship fund.
• LaSalle University saw 570 donors give more than $350,000, including more than $100 apiece to its annual fun and honors program.
• Pace University got more than $130,000 from nearly 1,000 donors in its Give Tue Pace campaign, surpassing the projected total by 127%.

“You do see those tremendously large gifts, sometimes of a million dollars plus, but it’s also all of the small gifts together that really end up making a difference for the institution,” Widenhorn said. “Student-oriented initiatives were still a focus. It wasn’t the student emergency fund that we saw certainly last May, but areas like student scholarship support were still at the forefront. And then general annual funds did come back up a little bit more.”

How they did it

Colleges and universities employed a multitude of strategies to get the word out and drive interest in their campaigns. Widenhorn said there is increasingly “more omnichannel communication, certainly social media posts, including videos of students talking about their needs and how support helps them. Those are also used in email communications.” An astonishing 21 million were filtered through Anthology’s platform on Tuesday, which is more than they saw last year.

Once launched, one of their best tools to drive interest from alums and other donors continues to be leaderboards posted on websites. Eastern Michigan and BU were among a number of institutions showing overall numbers and donors in real time and delineating them by individual campaign on one refined, easy-to-navigate page.

“That’s what builds that excitement. That’s what gets others to jump on the bandwagon,” Widenhorn says. “If you’re seeing a social media post that drives you to the landing page or even the giving form but you don’t have a sense that others are giving with you, I would argue that you’re less likely to give on a Giving Tuesday.”

The impact of launching a campaign can be transformational but must be done and done well.

“I think most institutions at this point have a day of giving or do participate in Giving Tuesday, but there are likely still some that don’t,” Widenhorn says. “To me, that is really a miss. These events lead to new individuals supporting the institution, especially if there’s gamification involved and excitement beyond just a link saying, ‘Give to student scholarships.’ When you see that so many other people are also giving with you, that’s the real power of Giving Tuesday.”

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