Philanthropic giving to American colleges and universities climbed roughly 4% in the most recent fiscal year, according to a new report from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), suggesting that donors have not been deterred by the political upheaval and economic uncertainty that have defined the current moment in higher education.
CASE’s annual Voluntary Support of Education survey, which has tracked fundraising outcomes at U.S. institutions since 1957, estimates total voluntary support reached $78.8 billion in fiscal year 2025 — just enough to keep pace with inflation. Among the 643 institutions in the report’s core comparison group, funds received rose 3.9% and new funds committed grew 6.6%, with about 60% of institutions reporting gains in each category.
The headline numbers, however, mask a more complicated picture beneath the surface. Public institutions outpaced private peers in year-over-year growth on both measures, while private institutions showed uneven results across the country’s eight CASE geographic districts. Some regions posted strong gains in funds received even as new commitments softened — a pattern the report describes as a potential warning sign, since weaker commitments today typically translate into reduced cash flow down the road.
The report’s authors attribute the mixed signals to a convergence of pressures: inflation, political polarization, cultural scrutiny of higher education, and lingering uncertainty over the possible taxation of university endowments. Some donors, the report suggests, appear to be favoring gifts with immediate impact over longer-term pledges as a hedge against that uncertainty.
One clear trend in fiscal year 2025 was a shift in the source of donations. Individual donors — both alumni and non-alumni — increased their giving, while foundation support declined after several years of wide swings. The report notes that 89% of all funds received came from just 2% of donors, underscoring how heavily institutions have come to rely on a small pool of high-capacity givers.
That concentration problem is particularly acute among alumni. For the fourth consecutive year, the number of alumni donors fell, even as the total dollars received from alumni climbed. Median giving per alumni donor hit a record $1,895, driven largely by a shift toward gifts of $1,000 or more. The donors disappearing from the rolls are predominantly those who gave smaller amounts — younger graduates and mid-career alumni whose participation rates continue to erode. The report is frank about the long-term implications: institutions are increasingly dependent on older, wealthier donors, and that pipeline will eventually run dry.
Bequests emerged as a notable bright spot. Planned gifts grew as a share of both new commitments and overall personal giving, reaching 23.7% of personal giving in 2025, up from 18.1% a decade ago. Institutions across the country reported receiving some of the largest bequest gifts in their histories, which the report connects to the ongoing intergenerational wealth transfer currently underway nationally.
Looking ahead, CASE flags upcoming changes to tax law that could reshape fundraising strategy. New rules taking effect in 2026 will require charitable gifts from itemizing individuals and corporations to reach a certain threshold of income to qualify for a deduction — a change that may reduce giving incentives for some major donors while potentially spurring more small-dollar gifts through an expanded deduction for non-itemizers.
The overall message from CASE’s data is one of cautious optimism: donor confidence in higher education remains intact for now, but the structural trends point to real vulnerabilities ahead.
