Scottish universities see a sharp increase in donations
Institutions raise an extra £11m as they battle cuts and rising costs
UNIVERSITIES have seen a sharp rise in the amount of money they generate through philanthropic giving, according to a new survey.
A study found universities north of the Border increased donations by some £11 million last year with the total rising from £42m to £53m – up by more than one quarter.
Carolee Summers-Sparks, interim director of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Europe, which commissioned the UK-wide study, welcomed the increase.
She said: “The growth in new funds and cash income demonstrates a robust, positive fundraising performance in the sector. Scottish universities are exhibiting great confidence in the value of philanthropic income and a realistic view of the investment required to win it.”
While the rise is good news, the total is small in comparison with the £3.2 billion overall income Scottish universities receive –and previous surveys have shown phil- anthropic giving is concentrated in a handful of institutions.
Edinburgh University accounts for nearly half of the total, followed by Glasgow University with some £10m and St Andrews University raising £4m.
Some universities even saw their endowment and investment income fall in 2013/14 with Aberdeen and Dundee both seeing a reduction. But there were also welcome increases for Stirling, Glasgow Caledonian and Edinburgh Napier.
At a time of uncertainty around future public funding, as well as rising costs, the overall increase has been welcomed by Universities Scotland, which represents university principals.
A spokeswoman said: “While development is already well established in some universities, other institutions have invested a lot of energy building this up and this seems to be paying off.”
Gordon Maloney, president of NUS Scotland, which represents students, said the study, carried out by NatCen Social Research, was “great news” for universities, but stressed the money should be invested on tangible improvements.
He said: “Universities need to be much more transparent about where this money is coming from and how it’s being spent.
“It’s clear that there’s significant sums being invested in our universities through endowments and investments for the benefit of students, and students would expect to see the results of that much more clearly and an opportunity to shape those decisions.”
In America, it is routine for former students to give money to their universities after they have graduated, but the practice is far less popular in the UK.
Nonetheless, leading Scottish universities such as Aberdeen, St Andrews and Edinburgh have all embarked on major international campaigns to raise money through donations in recent years.
Figures published in 2012/13 showed the number of donors to higher education institutions was almost 22,850, up 15 per cent on the previous year.