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Fundraising First for Cambridge
In a time of economic challenge and global competition, the case for philanthropy and fundraising to support Britain's great universities has never been stronger.
Today, the University of Cambridge announced that it is the first university outside the US to raise £1 billion in a fundraising campaign.
The total raised for the University and Colleges by the 800th Anniversary Campaign has just surpassed £1 billion, two years ahead of schedule. This total does not include more than £250 million of pledged bequests, a significant contribution to the Colleges and University over the long term.
The Campaign was launched publicly in autumn 2005 and, under the banner of "Transforming Tomorrow", has attracted broad support from alumni and friends globally.
To date more than 45,000 alumni, a quarter of the total, have made at least one gift to their College or to the University during the Campaign to date, with many making regular donations.
Acknowledging this achievement, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, said: "I am profoundly grateful to our alumni and benefactors who are investing in Cambridge's future. Cambridge is consistently ranked among the top handful of universities in the world and is at the heart of Europe's most important cluster of innovative enterprises. The Collegiate University plays a key role, nationally and globally, in educating and training tomorrow's leaders. We develop the knowledge that drives economic prosperity and enhances human health and the health of our planet. No less important, we enrich the lives of individuals through literature, history, art, music and drama.
"To sustain our international pre-eminence against better-funded competitors, we must continue to invest in students and staff, our collections and facilities. This Campaign is helping to ensure that those long term investments can be made."
Money raised by the University and the 31 Colleges in this Campaign has increased the number and level of bursaries and scholarships available to students, enhanced initiatives to encourage applicants regardless of their financial circumstances, funded new buildings for research, teaching and student accommodation, endowed professorships and teaching posts, attracted brilliant new academic staff, and strengthened the University's already outstanding capacity to translate research discoveries and scholarship into benefits for society as a whole.
Given the importance and challenge of maintaining Cambridge's global position, the Campaign will continue, providing the resources and diversity of income that are key to Cambridge remaining amongst the world's best.
Campaign Co-Chairman Sir David Walker said:
"Our alumni and friends in the UK and internationally are responding with generosity and vision to the call of this Campaign. They understand the need for sustained investment if teaching and research are to remain cornerstones of Cambridge's excellence and ability to seed the world with ideas. The Campaign continues apace and I look forward to working with Alison Richard's successor, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, to ensure that in a hundred years' time, Cambridge is still developing the leaders and knowledge that will transform tomorrow."
Find out more about the impact of Campaign gifts.
Added: 10 June 2010
