Stanford passes Harvard in fundraising

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>$603 million > $590 million</p>

<p>"Stanford University has taken the lead as the nation's most successful collegiate fundraiser, garnering $603.6 million in the past year and passing rival Harvard University for the first time.</p>

<p>...</p>

<p>Harvard had more donors, but Stanford's were more generous. While 72,000 alumni, foundations, corporations and friends gave to Stanford -- about 1,200 more than last year -- 82,000 gave a total of $590 million to Harvard. The average check written by a donor to upstart Stanford was $8,375, compared with $7,200 for Harvard."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/12999207.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/12999207.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>G<em>O</em>O<em>G</em>L*E.........whooooooHOooooooooo</p>

3

<p>When it was established, Stanford had the nation's largest endowment. That is no longer true, although it recently surpassed Princeton to move into 4th place behind Yale and the University of Texas.</p>

<p>Stanford has edged past Harvard twice in the last 10 years in annual contributions, both times thanks to $100 million-dollar transfers from the Hewlett family foundations, which have been classified as annual fund gifts rather than capital campaign gifts..</p>

4

<p>But this time there's no massive single donation like that. </p>

<p>I doubt the veracity of your first assertion. Can you provide a citation for that?</p>

5

<p>Wasn't there $83 million fron the Hewletts this year?</p>

6

<p>The Mercury-News article says that donors gave "gifts that ranged from $1 to $39 million."</p>

7

<p>As I say, I think the Hewlett foundations chipped in $83 million</p>

8

<p>Byerly, your idea about Stanfords endowment originally being higher than harvards is simply asonine because clearly stanford did not have an even comparable of alumni as harvard for the majority of the 20th century, when the endowments really grew. Thus, although the initial indowment might have been bigger, Harvard had an advantage in the number of alumni. You try to make it sound like stanford just fell and harvard rose. Thats not the case.</p>

9

<p>LOL @ Byerly's first point.</p>

<p>Stanford started with an endowment bigger than Harvard's? I don't think so, unless there's some secret treasure hidden in the main quad!</p>

10

<p>I have no idea wheter the Hewlett foundation donated $83 million, but why is that relevant? Fact of the matter is that Harvard appears to have no equivalent relationship with any entity such as the Hewlett foundation.</p>

<p>I was surprised that a school as "young" as Stanford can beat Harvard in fundraising with consistency (to the point where Harvard officials will concede that they'll be either #1 or #2 pending the release of Stanford's annual figures). My interpretation is that Harvard certainly has a much larger base of wealthy alumni. Yet Stanford has already received several donations that are much larger than anything that Harvard has ever gotten in its long history.</p>

<p>But the more important question is: how much does any of this really matter...?</p>

11

<p>OH NO!</p>

<p>I feel SO sorry for Harvard......what a shame......</p>

12

<p>Stanford is getting a little long in tooth now to ask that it be judged by a lower standard on account of its "youth"!</p>

<p>Endowments, as we know them, are generally a 20th century phenomenon.</p>

13

<p>I agree byerly. Its not fair to say though, that Stanford "lost" the lead to harvard. The lead they had was an artificial one harvard was bound to surpass. A better comparision is the fundraising of today</p>

14

<p>I said no such thing.</p>

<p>College endowments are a 20th century development, however.</p>

<p>Annual fund contributions - which often do not end up in the endowment anyway - vary from year to year. </p>

<p>In the last 10 years or so, Harvard has lead more often than not, although Stanford has topped the list twice when large gifts from the Hewlett trusts were received. </p>

<p>USC topped the list in the year when it was finishing up a major capital drive, and Yale did well in 2000 when it also had a special push for its "300th", although neither is normally in the top five.</p>

<p>Typically, Harvard is first, Stanford is second, and Cornell is third.</p>

<hr>

<p>Here are the largest totals prior to this year:</p>

<p>1 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $683,172,781 FY2001
2 University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) $585,161,932 FY2002
3 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $582,583,760 FY2004
4 Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford, CA) $580,474,000 FY2000
5 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $555,639,350 FY2003
6 Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford, CA) $524,538,874 FY2004
7 Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford, CA) $486,075,131 FY2003
8 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $485,238,000 FY2000
9 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $477,617,144 FY2002
10 Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford, CA) $468,966,495 FY2001
11 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $462,763,000 FY1998
12 Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford, CA) $454,769,878 FY2002
13 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $451,672,000 FY1999
14 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) $427,604,000 FY1997
15 University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) $399,640,772 FY2003
16 Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) $385,936,236 FY2004
17 Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) $363,031,766 FY2002
18 Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) $361,613,050 FY2005
19 Columbia University (New York, NY) $358,682,692 FY2001
20 Yale University (New Haven, CT) $358,103,000 FY2000</p>

15

<p>Byerly,</p>

<p>1) Disagree with you about the "youth" bit. Although Stanford is barely over 100 years old, it was largely a top regional university until the 1950-1960's, when it began to become more of an international powerhouse. Therefore the earning potential characteristics of the older alumni (who typically make the most significant donations) might tend to be much stronger at Harvard (or Y/P/etc) than at Stanford. My point is that, despite the above, Stanford is still somehow able to out-raise almost all (and sometimes <em>all</em>) the others.</p>

<p>2) Your list was interesting. If I interpret it correctly, during the <em>best</em> year that Yale has had in recent history ... it was only in "3rd place" behind S and H? What's wrong at Yale ... humanities don't pay well enough???</p>

16

<p>How is the $120M in Google stock counted? Is that an endowment gift from Page and Brin? That would make a big difference in a one year total.</p>

17

<p>Schools can treat large gifts differently. Occasionally, when a capital drive is underway, those gifts are considered separately from an annual fund for current expenses.</p>

<p>If a gift is earmarked specifically for the endowment, it might not be counted towards the annual fund. The Hewlettt Foundation gifts in recent years have been counted as annual fund gifts - the Google gifts you speak of appear not to have been.</p>

<p>For example: at Harvard, an alum might contribute $1,000 to the "Harvard College Fund" annually, but then make an independent gift of $5 million to endow a professorship. The latter would not be included as a contribution to the fund.</p>

18

<p>I believe that the Google gift is actually a tech transfer license. Page and Brin developed the Google search technology under a research grant to Stanford University while graduae students at Stanford. In leiu of money they exchanged company stock for the license. Does any of these funds flow into the endowment funds? If so, how and how much? I am assuming they do but are not listed as gifts and perhaps is not the full $120M that the stock was reported to be worth on the day Google went public.</p>

19

<p>"Royalties" from technology transfer (i.e. Google) and "gifts" are completely different entities.</p>

20

<p>Kingduke,</p>

<p>How is each accounted for in the endowment? It has been widely reported that the Google IPO netted $120M for Stanford. Where did that money go and is it included in the fund raising figures for last year that people are citing in this thread?</p>