UK universities secured over £511m in philanthropic gifts in 2008-09, up from £430m in 2007-08, according to this year’s Ross-CASE survey on higher education philanthropic income.

In its survey of 165 institutions, Ross-CASE found that over 163,000 people and organisations chose to make a gift to higher education, an increase of 18,000 people on 2007-08 levels.

The number of cash gifts worth £500,000 or more increased, from 119 in 2006-7 to 165 in 2008-9. Twenty-two universities received cash gifts of £1m or more, and four universities accepted single gifts of over £4m each. Fundraising success is not just limited to top-tier institutions, with 51 per cent of the responding universities reporting an increase in new funds secured.

However it wasn’t all good news. The total amount of 'new philanthropic funds' - the sum of all pledges, new cash gifts and gifts in kind - was down from the 2007-8 figure of £675m, bucking the trend of steady growth in recent years.

2008-9 was the first year of the Government's matched funding scheme for English higher education institutions - which allows donations to be matched by up to £200m in government funding - and has shown a positive impact in incentivising donations, with eligible institutions drawing down the maximum amount of matched funds available.

Following this success, CASE is launching a national campaign to increase awareness of the role of philanthropy in higher education and promote a culture of giving to universities. The campaign, 'Whose life will you change?', will focus on the impact of philanthropic giving to universities and the achievements that gifts enable such as medical research and improved access to higher education.

See related file (top right) for overview of donations