Dive Brief:
- Recently released giving data for 2014 shows a drop in the number of major donations to institutions of higher learning, though higher education remains the top recipient of big gifts.
- University Business reports that the Million Dollar Donors Report tracked at least 1,831 gifts of $1 million or more internationally in 2014, which totaled $24.5 billion, a drop from 2013’s $26.3 billion across 1,995 donations.
- Giving in the United States dominated the eight regions studied, accounting for $14.11 billion of the international total — and here, higher education institutions received 56% of all major donations, according to the report.
Dive Insight:
Most of the giving in the United States is done by individual philanthropists. Large gifts from foundations dropped my a third in 2014, contributing to the overall decline. Higher education institutions received $5.94 billion in the U.S. alone. When it comes to overall giving in the United States, the $14.11 billion donated through gifts of $1 million or more in 2014 was lower than the $16.92 billion donated in 2013 but slightly higher than the 2012 total. Notably, donors gave nearly $22 billion in large gifts in 2008, responding to great need as the economy crashed.
Private schools like Harvard have long been known for major fundraising initiatives, but a new trend among flagship publics includes billion-dollar efforts.