Private contributions to universities around the nation have significantly increased in 2005, according to a survey conducted by the Voluntary Support of Education Institution of the Council of Aid to Education.
The increase in donations was not the same across the board, the survey stated.
While giving from private foundations and alumni increased, corporations were not as charitable to universities nationally, the survey found.
Additionally, the survey reported that while the number of alumni providing voluntary support to colleges and universities decreased, the total amount of money given by alumni increased.
According a press release quoting Ann E. Kaplan, the director of the survey, the decrease in alumni participation in charitable support could be because of newer technology that better maintains addresses of alumni, increasing the total number of alumni eligible to give without necessarily increasing the number of donors.
"The University of Virginia is known as arguably one of the best programs in the nation in terms of receiving private donations," said Robert Sweeney, senior vice president of development and public affairs at the University.
The University was ranked 24th by the CAE survey in the survey's list of the top 25 colleges in the nation to receive the most private donations.
"Larger schools get a lot of private giving but this also has to do with enrollment size," Kaplan said. "If the numbers are readjusted to be in proportion to the number of students at the college, then many of the smaller schools would move their way up the list on the list of top colleges receiving the most money."
According to Sweeney, about 65 percent of donations to the University are from individuals such as parents, grandparents and alumni; the other 35 percent of the support is equally divided among corporations and foundations.
In order for the University to become more financially autonomous, Sweeney said is undertaking a campaign to raise $3 billion by 2011, currently the largest effort to raise money from alumni.
With the help of conscious efforts to get more donations from more alumni and programs such as the M-D-Cav, an attempt to get younger alumni to donate more, the University has reached the $850 million mark and plans to reach a $1 billion goal by March 2006, Sweeney said.
"The University's destiny will be determined by financial capabilities and greater autonomy in exchange for greater financial independence, a compelling argument for raising money," Sweeney said.
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