Dive Summary:
- According to a report released Wednesday by the Council for Aid to Education, donations to U.S. colleges and universities totaled $31 billion in 2012, up 2.3% from $30.3 billion in 2011.
- The growth was well below 2011's 8.2% increase and, when adjusted for inflation, was only a 0.2% increase.
- Analysts were still encouraged by the numbers, which they see as a gradual return to numbers like 2008's record donations of $31.6 billion, and 53% of institutions surveyed for the report say they raised at least as much in 2012 as they did in 2011.
From the article:
... Donald M. Fellows, president and chief executive of the philanthropic-consulting firm of Marts & Lundy, said the results suggest a gradual return to better times. The best year ever for charitable contributions to colleges was in 2008, when donors gave $31.6-billion. "The sense we're getting from our clients is that the confidence is coming back," Mr. Fellows said. "I would anticipate that 2013 will be a stronger year than 2012, but we're still thinking that it's going to take several more years to get back to prerecessionary levels of giving."...