Financial Story

Making every gift count

In fiscal 2011–2012, donors made generous contributions toward Yale’s core academic priorities. New gifts and pledges totaled $347 million, with broad support from alumni, parents, and friends. Contributors were enthusiastic despite the economy, and younger alumni and long-time supporters alike broke records in many areas of giving.

Included in the fundraising total was $97 million from corporations and foundations. This generous figure, representing an unprecedented 28 percent of overall giving, reflects the continuing confidence they have for Yale’s faculty and their groundbreaking work.

Cash revenue, a measure of new gifts and pledge payments received during the year, reached a remarkable $563 million in 2011–2012, the second-highest total in Yale’s history. The flow of revenue included a mix of pledge payments on past Campaign commitments and a groundswell of new giving directed to benefit both students and faculty.

Recent alumni give back to Yale

Giving was strong across all decades in 2011­–2012, including a steady outpouring of gifts by younger alumni. Many Elis who contributed for the first time through the senior class gift continue to support Yale through annual gifts and reunion contributions. The generosity of these recent alumni not only helps to meet Yale’s current needs, but also promises a bright future for Yale.

Consistent with this support among current students and recent alumni is the generosity of parents. In 2011–2012, Yale College parents gave a total of $16.5 million, including gifts from alumni and non-alumni parents to the Parents Annual Fund and restricted gifts from non-alumni parents for critical needs such as undergraduate scholarships and faculty.

Endowment giving secures Yale’s future

Twenty-eight percent of new gifts and pledges this year, or $95 million, was earmarked for the Yale Endowment. The cash contribution (gifts and pledge payments) was even greater, adding approximately $300 million to Yale’s permanent endowed funds. Along with a 4.7 percent return in fiscal 2011–12, these gifts helped to offset a payout of $992 million directed to the operating budget, so that the Endowment was valued at $19.3 billion as of June 30.

Since 1950, more than 77 percent of the Endowment’s value has derived from gifts and the investment performance on those gifts. Over the past 20 years, the Endowment generated returns of 13.7 percent per annum, which ranks first among institutional funds.