Alumni Giving Rises

A naggingly sluggish economy apparently isn’t deterring alumni from supporting their alma mater. Duke officials reported a record number of donors gave to the university during the past fiscal year, which ended June 30.

For the year, 106,423 alumni and friends made gifts to the university totaling $349.7 million, the third-highest total in the university’s history. New commitments for the year—a combination of new gifts and new multi-year pledges— totaled $436 million, a 45 percent increase over the previous year.

Meanwhile, the Duke Annual Fund set records for both the number of donors and the total amount raised, with contributions from 46,705 alumni, parents, students, and friends totaling $27.9 million.

The Duke Endowment, the Charlottebased charitable trust established by university founder James B. Duke, was the largest single contributor to the university in 2010-11, giving more than $40 million to support the medical center, faculty initiatives, outreach programs, and other Duke priorities. In addition, the endowment announced in March its intention to contribute $80 million over several years, the largest gift in Duke’s history, to transform the West Campus Union and renovate Page and Baldwin auditoriums.