Charitable Giving

The California State University continues to enhance the teaching and learning experience through the generosity of private donors. Donors committed more than $285 million in new gifts, new pledges and testamentary provisions in fiscal year 2004-05. Giving remained constant compared to the prior year. Gift commitments represent the efforts of campus presidents and their teams to build a pipeline of support for the university.

Charitable gift receipts, a combination of new gift receivables and pledge payments, totaled more than $223 million. Gift receipts represent the ongoing work of advancement programs that result in cash and in-kind gifts received during the fiscal year.

Of all charitable gifts received, donors designated 97 percent for specific purposes. Less than $6 million was unrestricted and available to be directed toward the university’s most pressing needs.

Individuals

The number of individuals giving to the CSU grew by 12,000 sup-porters in 2003-04, reaching a total of 212,000 individual donors. The number of donors is a key indicator of success in attracting private sup-port to the university. In 2003-04, San Diego State University received contributions from more than 60,000 alumni, faculty, staff and other friends. The average number of individual donors among CSU institutions was 9,000.

Alumni

Efforts to enhance relationships with graduates through alumni membership programs continue to pay dividends to the university. Alumni membership for 2004-05 reached 116,000 members who provided $2 million in membership dues. Additionally, these members contributed $21 million in charitable gifts, representing 57 percent of all alumni gifts to the university.

Alumni giving took an upswing in 2004-05, bringing in $37 million compared to $20 million in 2003-04. The increase was fueled by several multimillion-dollar gifts from individual alumni in support of building campaigns.

In 2004-05, the average gift from an alumni donor increased from $278 to $469.