Founded in 1890, the Alumni Fund has a remarkable legacy of strengthening Yale through the generous participation of annual donors. The 2015–2016 fiscal year was no exception, with 41,434 alumni, parents, and friends contributing $37.8 million in current-use funds. These gifts have an immediate impact on the university, helping to sustain student life, teaching, and research.
Annual gifts included substantial support for financial aid, with all gifts for unrestricted use or scholarships counting toward Access Yale. Over the two years of this initiative, the Alumni Fund raised $63 million for Access Yale, or 22 percent of the $285.8 million total.
“Alumni Fund donors and volunteers played a pivotal role in the success of Access Yale,” said Bo Hopkins ’86 MBA, who chaired the Alumni Fund throughout the two-year initiative. “I am proud and grateful to be part of an alumni community that is doing so much for students and their families, across Yale College and every professional school.”
Indeed, giving in 2015–2016 was strong across all schools, with several achieving new fundraising records. The Yale College Alumni Fund set a new record of nearly $21.3 million, and contributing to this total, the classes of 2006 to 2015, collectively known as the Bulldogs of the Last Decade (BOLD), exceeded their combined fundraising goal with $504,479. The Parents Annual Fund reached a new high of $3.4 million.
In the Yale School of Management (SOM), the Alumni Fund had a record year, with over $3.3 million contributed from 51.9 percent of SOM alumni. In addition, the alumni funds in the schools of architecture, divinity, and public health all achieved their second-highest revenue years.
Challenges inspire giving
Several special events and challenges throughout the year helped to stimulate enthusiastic support across the university:
- On October 14, 2015, more than 1,300 students from across campus composed 1,371 handwritten thank-you cards to Yale donors on the fifth annual Elihu Day. Sponsored by the Yale Alumni Fund, the event recognizes alumni and parents who help the university meet its most essential needs—from scholarships and faculty support to collections and facilities.
- In spring 2016, hundreds of Yale College volunteers reached out to their classmates during the eleven-day Bulldog Blitz campaign. Urging broad participation, several anonymous donors pledged a challenge gift of $100,000 if volunteers secured 2,000 donors. The final result was 2,097 gifts and pledge payments to the Alumni Fund totaling over $1 million.
- This past June, the inaugural Sprint for Financial Aid was held to encourage Yale College alumni to support financial aid through the Alumni Fund. Volunteers and staff reached out to alumni, highlighting current students who benefitted from financial aid through videos and personal statements. The initiative was a great success and netted over $517,000 from 697 alumni. As an added incentive, Kevin Ryan ’85, chair and CEO of AlleyCorp and founder of Gilt, matched dollar for dollar gifts made to the Alumni Fund during a one-day challenge.
Celebrating a legacy of volunteers
The close of 2016 also concluded the two-year observance of the Alumni Fund’s 125th anniversary, which spanned the 2015 and 2016 fundraising years. During the extended celebration, donors to Yale College, the Graduate School, and the professional schools made more than 85,000 annual gifts.
“Since its founding, the Alumni Fund has remained focused on raising unrestricted annual gifts that Yale can use to support the current activities of faculty and students,” said incoming chairman Thomas S. Leatherbury ’76, ’79 J.D. “Today, our donors and volunteers continue to embrace this mission, both to give something back and to engage in new ways with an institution that has shaped their lives for the better.”