While the past year undoubtedly tested the BU community on many levels, it also saw us come together, from near and far. Incredible support by our 352,000 alumni worldwide translated into several historic firsts. In 2021, we had our best-ever year for cash revenue: more than $225 million, a 26% increase over the prior year, contributed by alumni, students, corporate and foundation supporters, and other friends. In fact, another record broken last year was the sheer number of donors: 50,409.
Driving that momentum, in part, were increased opportunities for engagement with the University, notably through webinars, presentations, and virtual town halls with deans and senior leaders, allowing us to meet—over Zoom—with alumni where they were.
“The University’s new Strategic Plan played a big part,” says Karen Ann Engelbourg, senior vice president for development and alumni relations. “Along with statements made by the president and provost, the plan clearly articulates BU’s top priorities and that resonated with alumni and other donors.”
One of those strategic priorities is diversity, equity, and inclusion, and generous support went toward the Center for Antiracist Research, founded in the summer of 2020 by renowned scholar and activist Ibram X. Kendi, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities. The center was the recipient of multiple generous gifts to support its work in confronting and dismantling racist policies and systems.
But even without those particular gifts, Engelbourg says, giving was still well ahead of the University’s initial target for FY2021. Access and affordability remained strong motivators. This past year, more than 15 donors took part in the Century Challenge, where donors establish an endowed undergraduate scholarship of $100,000 or more and BU matches the income from that fund for 100 years.
“Donors want to support something that is compelling and where their investment truly makes a difference,” says Engelbourg. “That’s what really gives me encouragement that this year has set the pace for years to come.”
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