Yale Daily News

The University had the most successful fundraising year in history last year, raising $738 million in cash donations and a total of $1.1 billion in pledged donations from over 40,000 donors. 

The news of Yale’s 2020-21 financial success comes from a report on the University’s current capital campaign, For Humanity. The record-breaking year, which spanned from June 2020 to June 2021, saw donors commit to a significant portion of the campaign’s $7 billion final goal set to be achieved over the course of five years. All the money raised goes towards the campaigns and its explicit goals, which last year included hundreds of millions of dollars that went toward bolstering financial aid and endowed fellowships. The Yale College class of 1952 saw the highest rate of participation, with 69 percent of graduates donating to the University last year.

“Yale’s alumni, parents, and friends gave at an all-time high this year,” University President Peter Salovey wrote in the report. “The For Humanity campaign is off to a tremendous start, ensuring that exceptional students and faculty have every opportunity to improve our world for all.”

Yale administrators were optimistic about the trajectory of the fundraising campaign, suggesting that they are likely to reach the target within the stated timeline. In an interview with the News, University Provost Scott Strobel described the progress of the campaign and addressed the question of Yale’s gift policy, which has been a central issue for the administration this year. 

The scale of the funds raised this year is made more evident by the University’s previous capital campaigns. Yale Tomorrow, the 2006-11 capital campaign, raised just over $3 billion in five years, which was a University record at the time. 

For Humanity has specific focuses in the sciences, as well as broader focuses for the campus community. The campaign’s five specific areas of focus within the sciences and engineering include data science and computer science, neuroscience, inflammation science, planetary solutions and quantum science and engineering. Yale also plans to invest in social science research, furthering the University’s preeminence in the humanities, supporting faculty and students and building a more inclusive campus community, Salovey said to the News last October.

While the report does not break down the specific donations, it does note that hundreds of millions of dollars raised in the last year will be directed towards making the University more financially accessible. In particular, $304 million was committed to supporting financial aid across the University, as well as $280 million towards endowed scholarships and fellowships. 

The report notes that the vast majority — 78 percent — of donations came from individual donors, while the remaining 22 percent came from corporations and foundations. The report also points out that of the $1.1 billion committed to the campaign this year, almost $700 million was pledged directly to the Yale Endowment. 

Strobel expressed his gratitude for Yale’s donors and noted that this year’s fundraising campaign has been directed towards the University’s academic priorities. 

“We’re really grateful for the donors that are committed to the success of the University and [who] have [an] interest in various academic priorities that we’ve identified,” Strobel said. 

He did point out, however, that the capital campaign is far from over and that there is still much to be done in the coming four-and-a-half years. 

Strobel explained that throughout the 2020-21 donation year, the University only took donations that aligned with the goals of the campaign.

“It’s not money we would take,” Strobel said of unrelated donations. “There are ideas that are not things that the University should be spending its time and energy on.”

Part of the work over the last few years, Strobel said, was expressing to donors Yale’s goals for the future of the University.

“Part of what defining what the themes were for the campaign, through all the work that was done by faculty over multiple years, was to say to donors, ‘here’s what we are about, here’s what we are for, here’s what we’re trying to accomplish and here’s what we would like you to engage with now,’” Strobel said. “So there’s a matched interest between what we’re trying to do and what they would like to … help us with.”

In an email to the News, Josh Bekenstein ’80, senior trustee of the Yale Corporation and co-chair of the capital campaign, expressed his optimism about the trajectory of the campaign in light of the recent report and his appreciation for the support of the alumni community. 

“I think [Vice President for Development] Joan [O’Neill] and the Officers and thus the Trustees feel good about the campaign progress to date,” Bekenstein wrote. “We are fortunate to have wonderful and generous alumni.”

Strobel also addressed the question of the University’s gift policy, which is currently under review by a committee convened by Salovey. Strobel said that the University and development team specifically has been operating under the current gift policy for decades and explained that the committee will review and share its thoughts on the policy when it is completed at the end of the semester. 

“And so this is a committee that will take a look and say, is this a reasonable set of guidelines? Is there anything that is missing? And if the policy needs to be adjusted based on their recommendations, we can make some adjustments,” Strobel said. 

The For Humanity campaign began its public phase in October 2021.

Correction, Feb. 18: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the University had only turned down one gift that did not align with its policies. The News regrets the error.

Correction, Feb. 20: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that O’Neill could not be reached for comment.