# University fundraising costs fall as cash donations increase - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/05/19/university-fundraising-costs-fall-cash-donations-increase/ - Published: 2014-05-19T11:35:51+01:00 - Author: Howard Lake University fundraising costs have fallen following a sharp rise two years ago. The 2014 installment of the annual [Ross-CASE survey](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/05/19/university-fundraising-costs-fall-cash-donations-increase/www.rosscasesurvey.org.uk.), covering the 2012-13 financial year, reveals that the median expenditure to raise a pound dropped from 36p in 2012-13 to 27p in the last financial year. However, this was still 5p higher than the 2010-11 median. ## Five clusters The report grouped universities into five ‘clusters’ based on the performance of their fundraising programmes: **fragile, emerging, moderate, established** and ** élite**. ## Advertisement [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/) Universities with fragile programmes – four of the 136 institutions taking part in the survey – were spending on average **nearly £17 to raise a single pound**. However, the élite group – just Oxford and Cambridge – need to **spend just 7p to raise a pound**. The majority of universities (107) fell into a “continuum” of the emerging and moderate clusters, where fundraising costs were 33 per cent, which the report describes as“ healthy”. For both moderate and emerging programmes, a substantial proportion of their income came from just a few large gifts. Fragile and emerging universities also employed the fewest number of fundraisers. Twenty-two universities had established fundraising programmes, with more donors leading to income levels twice the median income for moderate universities and a fundraising cost of 17p in the pound. ## Cash donations at all time high [⌊Cash income received by universities⌉⌊Cash income received by universities⌉[ Philanthropic cash income received in 2012-13 for higher education institutions. Source: CASE Ross Survey 2014 Findings from the survey also show: * Cash donations to British universities increased by 23 per cent last year to an **all time high of £659.8m**. * However, new funds received – new single cash gifts and the full value (up to five years) of new pledges – fell by £81m to £681m, mainly because a few very large pledges made in 2011-12 were not repeated. * 59 per cent of donations came form organisations, with 41 per cent donated by individuals (the first year the survey has recorded this information) * The **number of people giving to universities increased** by six per cent from 209,404 to 223,353. * The trend in alumni giving is increasing, with 174,000 former pupils making gifts compared to 168,000 in 2011-12 and 164,000 the year before that. Over the past six years, alumni giving has increased by 60 per cent. * Universities had 9.3m contactable alumni, up from 8.4m in 2011-12 (a nine per cent increase), so **participation in giving schemes is still low at 1.9 per cent**. Fifty-nine universities improved alumni giving, but 20 experienced a decline * Universities in the survey invested £80m in fundraising and a further £42m in alumni relations. [⌊growth-in-individual-donors-case-ross⌉](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/growth-in-individual-donors-case-ross.jpg) Kate Hunter, executive director of the [Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Europe](http://www.case.org/Public_Policy/Europe.html), said: > “The survey  demonstrates the correlation between the size of the fundraising > workforce and the amount of philanthropy raised. > “For this figure to continue to rise, further investment in professional staff > and broader engagement with the academic community is needed.” Earlier this month after a [report from Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) by the More Partnership and Richmond Associates](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2014/05/05/sector-must-recruit-least-1800-new-fundraisers-next-eight-years/http://) said that the total number of higher education fundraisers will need to at least double – and preferably triple – from its current establishment of under 1,900 is the sector is to meet its income targets by 2022.   [⌊Philanthropic cash donations to higher education institutions⌉](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/philanthropic-cash-donations-case-ross-2014.jpg)   This year’s Ross-CASE survey  showed that only 44 new fundraising posts were created during 2012-13 on the total establishment of 1,198 fundraisers at the 136 participating univerisities.. A copy of the Ross-CASE survey can be downloaded [here](https://rosscasesurvey.org.uk/page/Findings.aspx). You can also view a summary of university giving over the past three years: [⌊Three year snapshot of philanthropic giving to higher education⌉⌊Three year snapshot of philanthropic giving to higher education⌉[ Three year snapshot of philanthropic giving to higher education * **[£3 million gift to Imperial College London for research into brain disease](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/08/13/3m-gift-imperial-college-london-research-brain-disease/)**( 13 August 2014) * **[Cork University Foundation income plummets](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/10/16/cork-university-foundation-income-plummets/)**( 16 October 2014) * **[New foundation offers support to higher education sector](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/05/05/new-foundation-offers-support-higher-education-sector/)**( 5 May 2016)