Major-Gift Fundraising

Peter and Bonnie McCausland unveil the newly-renamed McCausland College of Arts and Sciences during a ceremony recognizing a $75 million gift from the McCauslands and The McCausland Foundation to the University of South Carolina, on April 23, 2025.

Gifts Roundup

U. of South Carolina Students and Faculty to Benefit From $75 Million Windfall

By Maria Di Mento April 28, 2025

Plus, a law school in Nebraska landed $2 million to enhance holocaust and international justice studies, and several other universities and a medical center in Hawaii received big gifts.

Gene and Mindy Stein gave Children's Hospital Los Angeles $25 million through their Tikun Olam Foundation.

Gifts Roundup

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Lands $25 Million for Pediatric Mental Health Program

By Maria Di Mento April 21, 2025

Plus, the ArtCenter College of Design received a $17 million bequest from a long-time donor; and a hospital, three universities, and the education group Building African American Minds also received large gifts.

James and Patricia Anderson gave Wayne State University $50 million to support programs in the College of Engineering, which will be renamed for the Andersons.

Gifts Roundup

Wayne State U. Gets $50 Million From Former Instructor Turned Auto Executive

By Maria Di Mento April 14, 2025

Plus, Hollywood film producer Sidney Kimmel gave Temple University more than $27 million to support media and communications and the performing and cinematic arts, and three other universities received big gifts.

Sanford Weill, second from left, is seen with Weill Cancer Hub East’s scientific leads, from left, Dr. Jedd Wolchok of Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Sohail Tavazoie of The Rockefeller University, and Dr. Joshua Rabinowitz of Princeton University and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

Gifts Roundup

Former Citigroup Boss Gives Weill Cornell Medicine $50 Million

By Maria Di Mento April 7, 2025

Plus, Lyric Opera of Chicago landed a $25 million unrestricted gift from a long-time supporter, and a couple who are chemists and entrepreneurs gave USC’s Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute $15 million.

Sharna Goldseker, founder and vice president of the nonprofit 21/64, speaks to attendees at the Next Generation Retreat in Ojai, Calif., on July 19, 2022.

Next-Gen Donors

Don’t Ignore Next-Gen as the Wealth Transfer Begins

By Ben Gose April 1, 2025

Younger donors wield power even before they inherit.

Miguel Bezos and Jackie Bezos during the Hispanic Society Museum & Library Gala 2018 at Metropolitan Club on October 11, 2018 in New York City.

Gifts Roundup

Bezoses Pledge up to $500 Million to UNICEF USA’s Child Nutrition Fund

By M.J. Prest March 31, 2025

Plus, an alum left $35 million to Allegheny College to build an innovation lab, and Vanderbilt Law School will use $6.8 million to exonerate wrongfully convicted people in Tennessee.

Aileen and Brian Roberts, in a mockup of a patient room at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on March 12, 2025.

Gifts Roundup

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Lands $125 Million From Comcast CEO and Wife

By M.J. Prest March 24, 2025

Also, the University of Delaware received a commitment of $71.5 million for its business school, and Fairfield University will use a $50 million gift to enhance academic and interdisciplinary programs.

David Duffield talks with Cornell Engineering dean Lance Collins, as Duffield is presented with the inaugural Cornell Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018.

Gifts Roundup

Billionaire David Duffield Gives Alma Mater $100 Million

By Maria Di Mento March 17, 2025

Plus, Grove City College received a $70 million bequest, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts landed $10 million, and three other organizations received big gifts from supporters.

Coaches with the Graham SLAM initiative, which provides youth in Graham Windham’s family supports, community centers, and foster care programs with long-term support from 8th grade into living-wage employment, take a group of Brooklyn-based students snow-tubing.

Fundraising

Pivoting to Private Donors When Government Funding Isn’t There

By Rasheeda Childress March 14, 2025

The CEO of a social-service nonprofit and two of its major donors discuss how private support funded a key program — and helped win other grants.

Fundraising

What Works Now: Rethinking Big Gifts 5 Years After the Pandemic

By M.J. Prest March 11, 2025

Three nonprofit leaders share the new ways they’re approaching major-gift fundraising in a post-Covid world — from Zoom-forward fundraising to outside-the-box events.