The University of Michigan has raised $5 billion as part of its Victors for Michigan campaign with three months remaining in the drive, officials announced Thursday.
The total is the largest ever raised by a public university in a campaign.
The drive was launched publicly in 2013 with a $4 billion goal and has been buoyed by 1,600 volunteers around the world who contributed in a variety of ways, like hosting events and making introductions to potential new donors.
Volunteers themselves have given nearly $1.6 billion, says Jerry May, vice president for development. “The more engaged they got, the more money they gave,” he says.
Over all, the campaign has attracted more than 382,000 donors, 94 percent of whom have given less than $5,000, according to the university. For more than half of supporters to the drive, this was their first gift to the university.
The money supports various programs and institutions at the Ann Arbor campus. About $1.1 billion will go toward helping students — mostly by funding scholarships and fellowships. Another $1.4 billion will support education, research, and patient care at Michigan Medicine, the university’s academic medical center, according to the university.
Seeking $5 Billion and More
Although Michigan is the first public university to reach $5 billion in a fundraising campaign, others are poised to meet or exceed that amount. The University of Washington is right on its heels: As of August 1, the Seattle campus had raised $4.93 billion.
At least two other public institutions have set $5 billion goals: the University of California at San Francisco, which has brought in $4.3 billion so far, and the University of Virginia, which just announced its campaign goal in June.
In its Centennial Campaign, which wraps up at the end of 2019, the University of California at Los Angeles has raised $4.3 billion, exceeding its $4.2 billion target. “Five billion is possible,” says Rhea Turteltaub, vice chancellor for external affairs at UCLA.
Several top private universities have already exceeded the $5 billion mark, including Cornell, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and the University of Southern California.
Harvard University raised $9.62 billion in its latest five-year campaign — the largest university drive total to date.
Such competition makes it unlikely that campaigns will decline anytime soon, says May. The drives provide the discipline to do well, he says.
“We haven’t found a better model,” he says. “And they still do bring in great success. They still motivate donors to give extraordinary gifts.”
Heather Joslyn contributed to this article.
