Alumni giving almost doubles in '03

Following the national trend of increased alumni donations reported in 2003, the University nearly doubled the total amount of alumni donations received in 2002.

With a total of $167 million reported in total alumni donations for 2003, Penn recorded a significant increase from its total of $87 million in 2002.

The jump in total donations can be partly attributed to a large gift from the Annenberg family, according to Tom Farrell, assistant vice president for individual gifts.

"However, we also experienced significant levels of support and major gifts from other alumni," he said. "Our participation numbers were up significantly in the Penn Fund, and more alumni gave to Penn last year than ever before."

The Penn Fund is the University organization founded in 1927 that solicits unrestricted gifts from alumni holding undergraduate degrees, as well as from friends of the University.

Fifty-one percent of the money the Penn Fund raises goes to support student financial aid, with the rest of the donations going towards residential experiences, student life and special initiatives.

The University also showed an increase in total philanthropic gifts, receiving almost $400 million. These include alumni donations as well as donations from corporations, foundations, friends and parents.

The total philanthropic donations to Penn for 2003 ranked the University third among its peer institutions, behind Harvard and Stanford, respectively. Harvard received more than $555 million.

"Last year was the highest comparative ranking that Penn has ever had," Farrell said.

According to the most recent report released by the Council for Aid to Education, private contributions to America's higher education institutions for 2003 were $23.9 billion, the same figure as 2002. Alumni donations rose to $6.6 billion in 2003, marking an 11.9 percent increase.

Alumni donations and other philanthropic contributions represent roughly 10 percent of the core academic budget for the University, making them the "margin of excellence dollars," Farrell said. Those dollars are used in addition to students' tuition and fees.

University officials are optimistic about the projected alumni donations for 2004 but realize the numbers may not reach last year's levels.

"We are on track with our projections this year, and we're having a good year," Farrell said. "But we do recognize that the Annenberg gift played a good part in our success last year."

The University currently has an alumni population of 248,000, which includes graduates from all of Penn's undergraduate, graduate and professional schools.

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