The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stymie the University’s alumni and friends in showing their financial support this year. In fact, they gave in record-breaking numbers—$242.0 million to be exact—a more than 7% increase over FY2021.
“The headline is the bottom line,” says Karen Engelbourg, senior vice president for development and alumni relations. “The generosity of our alumni and friends blew us away—again.”
“A BU degree has become even more valuable for our alums.” — Karen Engelbourg,
Senior Vice President, Development & Alumni Relations
Engelbourg says this year’s success can be traced, in part, to the maturation of multiple efforts, starting with the University’s ascending reputation among global research institutions—as evidenced by our membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities, our groundbreaking (and newsworthy) research, and plentiful accolades for our faculty. “A BU degree has become even more valuable for our alums,” Engelbourg says. And our campus’ ongoing physical transformation has further bolstered that pride, from the new Center for Computing & Data Sciences to the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering to the addition of the Fenway Campus.
Another growth area has been the Century Challenge, in which the University matches the interest generated by a donation of $100,000 or more for 100 years. In FY2022, we received 22 new Century Challenge gifts, totaling $4.65 million. Since its launch, the fundraising effort has yielded more than 200 scholarships worth over $46 million. Because of our University’s size and scale, donors can select from a variety of areas to support. In fact, half of our donors this year gave outside of the schools they graduated from.
In sad news from the past year, we lost one of our staunchest supporters: Frederick Pardee (Questrom’54,’54, Hon.’06). Over the course of his life, he committed nearly $65 million to BU, including $50 million for the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies.
But what Pardee represents (as do those before and after him) is the most telling aspect of BU’s evolving philanthropic culture, Engelbourg says.
“As President Brown likes to say, ‘It’s a virtuous cycle: the more people become engaged and involved, the more likely they are to bring others into the fold. Good begets good.’”
We already felt overwhelmed by the generosity of our donors. Then we received a $100M gift. Read the story on the next page. →