The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has wrapped up its Victors for Michigan campaign and reported it received $5.3 billion in gifts. The campaign closed Dec. 31, and more than 398,000 donors gave 2.4 million individual gifts over more than seven years.
In October 2018, the school became the first public university in the U.S. to raise more than $5 billion.
“I am grateful for the leadership of my predecessor, Jerry May, the vision and support of presidents Mary Sue Coleman and Mark Schlissel, the deans, directors, and regents who championed this campaign along the way, and the dedication of the U-M development team,” says Tom Baird, vice president for development. “Most importantly, we could not have achieved this without the tireless efforts of more than 1,600 volunteers around the world. It took nearly 400,000 of us working together to get here, and it’s a moment worth celebrating.”
The campaign includes $1.2 billion for students support; $1.7 billion for programs in areas such as engaged learning, patient care, music, arts, libraries, and more; $1.5 billion for faculty and research across U-M’s three campuses; and $676 million for world-class facilities, including research laboratories, student housing, classrooms, music and arts venues, and athletics and recreation.
An estimated 92 percent of the funds for student support will go to scholarships and fellowships, and the remaining 8 percent will go to internships, study abroad programs, and more. Donors established more than 4,200 new scholarship funds and grew the endowment for student support by $915 million.
Of the donors, 94 percent gave less than $5,000, almost half made their first gift to U-M in this campaign, and 55 percent did not attend U-M. The campaign was fueled in part by a network of 1,655 volunteer donors around the world who helped expand the cause, while 11,948 students gave nearly $2.5 million and 22,740 faculty, staff, and retirees gave more than $201 million.
