Report Overview
This report analyses the extent and scale of fundraising activity in UK universities. It finds that while progress has been made in recent years, the UK HE sector continues to lag seriously behind its US counterpart, in terms of funds raised, annual alumni giving rates and levels of endowment. The report goes on to propose a number of measures for improvement, including a government matched funding scheme of between £1 and £5 million for each university.
Recommendations
We urge the government (and universities) to:
- Introduce a matched funding scheme for private donors, whereby the government allocates an equal sum of money to universities for donations raised, capped at, say, £1-5 million per institution
- Simplify tax laws to encourage annual giving, so that higher rate tax payers can simply deduct donations over a certain level from their gross income
- Introduce planned giving vehicles which allow individuals to transfer assets to universities whilst providing donors with a regular income and tax relief in their lifetime
- Give high level university leaders (such as Chancellors and Vice Chancellors) a clear fundraising role, and appoint development professionals at the most senior levels
- Publish more systematic and transparent reporting to monitor fundraising performance