Cornell has raised a total of $601.8 million in cash gifts in the 2016 fiscal year, surpassing a 10 year $5.75 billion goal ending in 2015, according to the University.
Donations break down to $353.6 million given to the Ithaca campus, $139.7 million for Weill Cornell Medicine and $108.3 million for Cornell Tech, according to the University.
Fred Van Sickle, vice president of alumni affairs and development, said the generous cash gifts this fiscal year were a natural outgrowth of the $6.3 billion Cornell Now campaign — the University’s multi-billion dollar capital campaign.
Of the over $600 million collected, $540.9 million came from new gifts and pledges, of which $18 million came from non-alumni parents, according to Sickle. He added that corporations and foundations contributed $125 million.
The Cornell Annual Fund received $38.5 million from 33,500 donors, according to the University.
Van Sickle said robust participation in the campaign stemmed from several resources such as crowdfunding student projects, reunion class campaigns and Cornell’s annual Giving Day, which raised $6,105,484 — of which 10,000 individual donations came from all 50 states and over 40 countries.
Cornell’s strong philanthropic support also impacted Ithaca’s physical campus. The Atlantic Philanthropies contributed to the Center for the Study of Inequality, the International Center on Capital Punishment and the Cornell welcome center, The Sun previously reported.
The campaign’s effects were visible at Cornell’s New York City locations as well. Andrew Tisch ’71 and Ann Tisch supported the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech, and Israel and Caryl Englander donated to the Institute for Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, according to the University.
“Our donors support all aspects of University life from financial aid to high level research,” Van Sickle said.
The gifts will be geared toward different aspects of Cornell, from scholarships to research and program enhancements, according to Van Sickle.
“We are always grateful for the deep levels of volunteer support and giving by loyal Cornellians,” Van Sickle said.