Princeton ranks 25th among colleges and universities receiving private donations for the 2005 fiscal year according to the Council for Aid to Education's annual Voluntary Support of Education Survey. The University raised a total of $165.34 million, an increase of $39 million over 2004.
Stanford topped the list with $603.59 million. Four of Princeton's Ivy League counterparts made it to the top 10: Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell and Columbia were third through sixth, with $589.86 million, $394.86 million, $353.93 million and $341.14 million, respectively. Yale was not far behind at number 11, having raised $285.71 million.
"One of the reasons for Princeton's lower rank could be that it is a smaller school," survey director Ann Kaplan said. "Plus, it raises a disproportionate amount from alumni as opposed to other institutions with large corporate donations."
According to Princeton's survey data this year, the University raised nearly twice as much from alumni as from corporations and foundations combined. In contrast, Harvard's breakdown is nearly even.
"Harvard and Stanford are always close to the top," Kaplan noted.
Princeton's rank this year is not a departure from previous standings, as the University was 35th in 2004 and 24th in 1994.
University Vice President for Development Brian McDonald '83 questioned how accurately this survey reflects the effectiveness of actual fundraising practices.
"Most development professionals consider new commitments, including pledges that are sometimes paid over several years, to be a better measure of current activity," he said. "By most measures of productivity — cost per dollar raised, dollars raised per alum, [for example]—we are almost always at or near the very top of every ranking."
Nationwide, the survey indicates an increase in alumni giving by six percent over last year, but alumni participation has actually decreased by 12.4 percent.
McDonald said this perceived change could be attributed to "development offices becoming more professionalized and using more sophisticated information systems," resulting in an increase of "addressable" alumni.
Princeton placed well in rankings for alumni participation, coming in 29th with 43.9 percent of its alumni donating to the University, whereas Harvard and Stanford are not in the top 50. Kaplan said that this category is often dominated by small liberal arts colleges like Amherst, Williams, Middlebury and Wesleyan.
"We are consistently first in participation of alumni among doctoral-granting institutions in U.S. News & World Report, at least since 2002," McDonald noted. In the magazine's calculation, the University's "average alumni giving rate" is 61 percent, first among national universities.
The Voluntary Support of Education Survey's rankings are determined strictly by cash flow. If Peter Lewis' donation of $101 million for the arts were granted this year, Princeton would have jumped to 14th, Kaplan said. The gift's effect on future rankings will depend on whether it is made in several payments and, if this is the case, how many years those payments will span.
The same conditions would apply to any pledged gift to the University. "Lewis' gift is extraordinary, but other alumni will likely step forward with significant gifts for neuroscience, financial aid and the engineering school in addition to the creative and performing arts — other objectives that President Tilghman has identified," McDonald said.
Kaplan acknowledges that the interpretation of rankings like these ultimately depends on a fundamental question: "Who is your peer group?" Princeton's figures can appear in a vastly different light depending on if they are compared to those of Stanford and Harvard or those of Haverford and Wellesley.
"We pride ourselves on being the smallest of the major research universities. Medical, law and business schools pull in from corporations and foundations ... we don't get gifts for professional purposes," McDonald said.
Of the commitment prospects for the 2006 fiscal year, he added, "This year will be Princeton's best year ever by a very large margin and I am absolutely delighted with our performance and progress."
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