Credit: Clive Howard /Cornell Marketing Group

On the heels of a goal-breaking 10-year capital campaign, Cornell gathered strong philanthropic support for fiscal year 2016, setting a new record of $601.8 million in cash gifts for the university. The milestone in cash gifts includes $353.6 million for the Ithaca campus, its highest ever, $139.7 million for Weill Cornell Medicine, and $108.3 million for Cornell Tech.

New gifts and pledges reached $540.9 million, including an all-time peak of $18 million from non-alumni parents, who tripled their support from the previous fiscal year, as well as a new $125 million benchmark from corporations and foundations.

The Cornell Annual Fund had its second-highest year with $38.5 million from 33,500 donors, and the 1865 Society (donors who have given to Cornell in two or more consecutive years) is now more than 49,000 strong.

“As we emerge from the Cornell Now campaign and experience a significant presidential transition, it’s inspiring to know that the university’s champions are fully with us,” said Fred Van Sickle, vice president for the Division of Alumni Affairs and Development.

“Our accomplishments in fiscal year 2016 reflect a community deeply devoted to the university’s mission of education, research and public engagement,” he added.

Credit: Clive Howard/Cornell Marketing Group

Van Sickle noted strong participation in different fundraising endeavors throughout the year, including crowdfunding student projects, and Reunion class campaigns, which raised more than $139 million from nearly 6,600 donors. A highlight of FY16, the second-ever Cornell Giving Day raised $6,105,484, with 10,100 individual gifts coming from all 50 U.S. states and more than 40 other countries, raising the bar for most gifts made to Cornell in 24 hours.

Punctuating FY16 with many celebratory moments, Cornell’s most generous donors made notable transformative gifts. The Atlantic Philanthropies – founded by Chuck Feeney ’56 – supported several areas of the Ithaca campus including the Center for the Study of Inequality, the new International Center on Capital Punishment, and a lead gift to the university welcome center. Also in Ithaca, David Breazzano, MBA ’80, helped established an MBA center in Collegetown.

For campuses in New York City, a gift from Andrew ’71 and Ann Tisch created an endowed professorship at the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech, and Israel and Caryl Englander named the Institute for Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Cross-campus connections were also strengthened by alumni like Robert F. Smith ’85, who made a gift to name the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and to support underrepresented African-American and women students in Ithaca and New York City. (Read more stories about philanthropy from the Cornell Chronicle.)

In all, 55,609 alumni, parents and friends from all over the world joined forces to boost different areas of the university. For example, in new gifts and pledges, professional school scholarships set a record of $30.8 million, while graduate fellowships reached $9.2 million, undergraduate scholarships received $27 million, and support for instruction, research and program enhancements garnered $297.1 million.

Hand in hand with philanthropic financial support, Cornellians engaged with the university in other impactful ways. The number of current volunteers has grown to more than 17,500, including 3,470 users of CUVolunteer, an online portal connecting alumni with opportunities to make a difference for the university and for their local communities. Participation in signature events was also outstanding. Reunion 2016, for example, set a new record with 7,005 attendees, including 5,076 alumni.

“We are fortunate to have so many alumni, friends and parents who share their time and talent with Cornell, as well as invest in the university’s many extraordinary programs,” said Van Sickle. “On behalf of the students, faculty and staff in Ithaca and New York City, I thank everyone who participated in 2016.”

Jose Beduya is a writer for the Division of Alumni Affairs and Development.