Final Report for Duke's Financial Aid Initiative (2005-2008)
In December 2005, President Richard H. Brodhead announced a university-wide effort to raise at least $300 million in endowment by the end of 2008 for need-based undergraduate aid, athletic scholarships, and graduate and professional student support. To help Duke meet this goal, a small group of donors led by The Duke Endowment, a Charlotte-based charitable foundation, committed an unprecedented $100 million in challenge funds to encourage new gifts for financial aid endowment.
When the initiative ended, the university had received gifts and pledges totaling $308,483,325, including $226.0 million for need-based undergraduate scholarships, $20.6 million for athletic scholarships, and $61.9 million for graduate and professional student support. About three-quarters of the $308.5 million gift and pledge total had been paid by December 31, 2008, with the balance due in the coming years. A total of 4,364 donors participated in Duke's Financial Aid Initiative, creating 478 new scholarship and fellowship funds and supporting 330 funds that had previously been established.
| Gifts & Pledges | |
| Undergraduates | |
| Need-Based Aid | $226.0 |
| Athletic Scholarships | $20.6 |
| Graduate and Professional Students | |
| Divinity School | $10.9 |
| Fuqua School of Business | $6.6 |
| Graduate School | $10.4 |
| Nicholas School of the Environment | $5.8 |
| School of Law | $10.5 |
| School of Medicine | $13.2 |
| School of Nursing | $4.5 |
| Total | $308.5 |
Deferred Gifts to Duke's Financial Aid Initiative
During the four years of the initiative, many donors also designated deferred gifts to create or build Duke scholarships and fellowships. While the university does not count bequest intentions in the initiative's total, they—as well as other forms of deferred gifts—have played a vital role in shaping this university, and they will certainly provide significant support to Duke students in the future.
An Unprecedented Challenge
Part of the success of the initiative can be attributed to the generosity of a handful of donors and the magnificent challenge fund they created. The Duke Endowment, a charitable trust established by the university's founder, contributed $75 million, the largest gift in the Endowment's history and the largest ever received by Duke University for any purpose. This gift was joined with $25 million from a small group of donors to create an unprecedented $100 million challenge fund.
The challenge fund was divided among Duke's schools and was used to match most new gifts of $100,000 to $1,000,000 on a dollar for dollar basis. The entire challenge fund was used by the end of the initiative, and it served as a great motivator to many donors.
Joining The Duke Endowment in supporting the challenge fund were trustee Bruce A. Karsh T'77 and Martha L. Karsh, chairman of the board Robert K. Steel T'73 and Gillian Steel, trustee emeritus Karl M. von der Heyden T'62 and Mary Ellen von der Heyden, and an anonymous donor.
