Stanford Report, October 17, 2012

Stanford releases fiscal year fundraising results

Stanford University reports a record year in fundraising, both in the dollar amount raised and the level of donor participation. The gifts support pioneering research and teaching and also ensure that the brightest students have a full range of opportunities inside and outside the classroom.

L.A. Cicero

State-of-the-art facilities, including the Bioengineering/Chemical Engineering Building now under construction, received funding from philanthropic gifts.

Stanford received $1.035 billion in gift support for the university and the Stanford Hospital & Clinics from nearly 79,000 donors during the 2011–12 fiscal year. The dollar amount and the donor participation are both Stanford records. The cash total represents a 45.9 percent increase over fiscal year 2010–11 and is 13.6 percent more than the $911.2 million raised during fiscal year 2005–06, Stanford's previous best.  The total does not include gifts received for the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, which has its own fundraising operation.

The 2011-12 fiscal year included the last several months of The Stanford Challenge, a five-year fundraising campaign that raised $6.2 billion for a new model of research and teaching. In May, Stanford announced the Campaign for Stanford Medicine, a $1 billion campaign for medical research and teaching that will include construction of a new Stanford hospital. The Campaign for Stanford Medicine was launched with $500 million in gifts, pledges and expectancies.

New philanthropic activity to Stanford, which represents new pledges and new gifts received, totaled $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2011-12.

"Through their philanthropic investments, donors are supporting the pioneering innovations for which Stanford is known and ensuring they will continue far into the future," said Stanford President John L. Hennessy. "Their gifts keep Stanford accessible to the brightest students and ensure a breadth of opportunities – inside and outside the classroom – in world-class facilities for living and learning. They help to make possible potentially game-changing research breakthroughs, as well as deepen the quality of our medical clinical programs and support greatly needed improvements in our hospital. I am extremely gratified and a little awed by their overwhelming level of support. It is a tremendous vote of confidence in our outstanding faculty and students."

The fiscal year cash total reflects gifts and pledge payments received from Sept. 1, 2011, through Aug. 31, 2012, and does not include pledges of future support or government grants. It includes $100 million of a $150 million gift from Dorothy and Robert King, MBA '60, that established the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED). The results also reflect strong philanthropic support that came as The Stanford Challenge was concluding, along with early gifts to the Campaign for Stanford Medicine.

Funds were raised for key priorities, including:

  • $70.8 million to provide support for students, including undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships
  • $304.3 million to support research and programs
  • $62.1 million to attract and support Stanford's faculty
  • $102.1 million to create and maintain state-of-the-art buildings and facilities

Annual funds accounted for $62.6 million, a 4.24 percent increase over the previous year. Annual funds are unrestricted and can be used in the year they are received to meet areas of greatest need; for example, of the $22.1 million raised for The Stanford Fund for Undergraduate Education, 80 percent was allocated to help close the gap for need-based financial aid.

During the 2011-12 fiscal year, gifts added in excess of $300 million to Stanford's permanent endowment.

"Our donors have shown remarkable generosity in response to our two fundraising campaigns," said Martin Shell, vice president for development. "We see this as an extraordinary endorsement of the vision and the strength of Stanford's leadership and direction. We are humbled by the breadth and depth of support that continues to flow from our alumni, parents and friends, as well as from the foundation and corporate communities. These gifts are investments in the future and the role that Stanford is playing in educating the next generation of global leaders and in helping to solve some of the world's most challenging issues. Even as we celebrate the scope of this philanthropic affirmation of Stanford, we remain ever mindful of our responsibility to realize the promise behind these campaigns."

 

Media Contact

Lisa Lapin, Stanford University Communications: (650) 725-8396, lapin@stanford.edu