In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, donors contributed $621.3 million in new gifts and pledges to Yale. Alumni, parents, and friends led in this extraordinary outpouring of support. Together, they helped to advance the university’s world-class teaching and research, sustain its remarkable facilities, and reaffirm its commitment to making a Yale education more affordable than ever before.
Among the highlights of the fiscal year was the successful completion of Access Yale, a two-year, $250 million initiative to raise new endowment and current use funds for financial aid. A university-wide effort, the initiative supported students across Yale College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the twelve professional schools. In the end, more than $285.8 million were raised, with 44,240 alumni, parents, and friends contributing to the effort over two years.
The most generous gifts this year were directed to widely ranging priority areas, united by a common desire to strengthen the excellence of Yale’s teaching and research:
- An anonymous gift of $50 million will support the planned renovation of the Hall of Graduate Studies as a central home for humanities education and scholarship. In addition, the donation will establish a permanent endowment for humanities programming.
- Joseph C. Tsai ’86 contributed $30 million to the Yale Law School in memory of his father, Dr. Paul C. Tsai, ’54 LL.M., ’57 JSD, naming the Paul Tsai China Center.
- James S. Tyler Jr. ’65 D.Eng. made a $20 million commitment to endow a director’s resource fund in the Center for Engineering Innovation and Design (CEID).
- A $10 million grant from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by American industrialist and philanthropist Len Blavatnik, will support faculty research in the life sciences, with an emphasis on breakthrough projects with potential for commercialization.
- A new corporate alliance with the Tata group will encourage promising new research across a range of disciplines, building on shared strengths in discovery, technology, and innovation.
- In a group effort, alumni from across the university came together to endow the director of athletics position, providing a new, flexible spending source for the director. Yale will rename the position in honor of the current director, Thomas A. Beckett, upon his eventual retirement.
A tradition of community support
Each year, alumni, parents, and friends sustain Yale through their volunteer service as well as their giving. The Yale Development Council, for example, plays a critical role in the life of the university through its support of fundraising efforts. The Asia Development Council has increased Yale’s presence in China, India, and East Asia, and the Parents Leadership Council helps advance the mission of the university through philanthropic commitments and opportunities to enhance the student experience. Alumni Fund class chairs and agents and reunion giving volunteers help keep their classmates engaged with Yale, ensuring the broadest possible support for the university.
Thanks in great part to volunteer engagement, annual giving reached $37.8 million in 2015–2016, while reunion giving secured $93.7 million. Yale College parents contributed $20 million, including record-breaking support from alumni and non-alumni parents for the Parents Annual Fund and restricted gifts from non-alumni parents. Overall, donors contributed a total of $305.6 million to current use funds and $227.3 million to the endowment, which closed at $25.4 billion, net of spending, as of June 30, 2016. This figure reflects a slight decline from the June 30, 2015, total of $25.6 billion.