Donations to Colleges Rise 11%, but Rate of Growth Slows, Survey Finds

Donations to colleges and universities increased by nearly 11 percent last year,

to $20.4-billion, according to a survey to be released this week.

While that sum was the highest dollar total reported in the 20 years that the Council for Aid to Education has conducted its survey of giving to higher education, the rise was the lowest percentage increase in four years.

The survey also found that giving to private elementary and secondary schools declined last year. Among 226 schools that completed the survey in both 1998 and 1999, giving fell by about 3 percent.

Researchers cautioned, however, that figures for private schools were less solid than those for colleges. The higher-education figures are based on data reported by 938 colleges and universities — which together receive 85 percent of all private gifts. The private schools’ data were provided by only about one-third of such organizations nationwide and were not as representative a sample.

Officials said the giving figures reflected a weaker stock market.

“We are starting to see a little faltering,” said David Morgan, the council’s vice-president for research and information services, who compiles the survey results each year. Market volatility, he said, causes some donors to delay giving stock and other assets.

Over the years, the council has found that stock-market trends are closely correlated with giving to higher education, particularly in the case of capital-campaigns and other building-and-equipment gifts. Such gifts rose by 8 percent last year, to $9.9-million — a much smaller increase than in 1998, when they rose by 23 percent.

Planned gifts, which are often made with stock and other appreciated property, declined by 12 percent — another sign that donors were sensitive to market volatility.

Nevertheless, 1999 was another extraordinary year for many colleges. Over the five-year period since 1994, support for colleges and universities has increased by 65 percent. And while giving to such institutions last year rose by 9 percent when adjusted for inflation, their expenses went up by only 2.3 percent. In fact, private contributions as a percentage of expenditures, at 8.4 percent, last year was the highest it has been in more than 20 years.

Gifts from foundations saw the largest increases: 17.2 percent among colleges and 14.8 percent, on average, among private schools that completed the survey for both 1998 and 1999.

The single biggest source of gifts to both colleges and private schools continues to be alumni, who provided 30 percent of all higher-education gifts last year.

At private schools, alumni gave a greater share, 40 percent of all donations. The total amount provided by alumni, however, dropped by 10 percent, to $364-million, or $1.2-million, on average, to each private school.

Parents gave the next largest share, 29 percent — a total of $266.3-million or $902,793, on average, to each private school.

The survey counted all types of private gifts received during the 12-month period that ended in July 1999: cash, stock, donated products and services, and other property from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The survey did not include unfulfilled pledges, government grants, or earnings on investments.

The complete report, “Voluntary Support of Education 1999,” will be published in June. It can be ordered from the Council for Aid to Education, 342 Madison Avenue, Suite 1532, New York 10173; (212) 661-5800. The cost is $65 for institutions that participated in the survey and $100 for all others.

More information on the survey is available on the council’s Web site at http://www.cae.org.