Giving in Evidence: Fundraising from Philanthropy in European Universities

This report is a continuation of the themes and ideas explored in two previous European

Commission reports, ‘Giving More for Research’ (2006) and ‘Engaging Philanthropy for

University Research’ (2008). It is the first report to provide data gathered from universities

across the European Union regarding the efforts made, and successes achieved, in

fundraising from philanthropy for research. An additional output of the research is a new

database of contacts responsible for fundraising in almost 500 European universities.

We find that philanthropic fundraising is not, on the whole, taken seriously in European

universities. Only a very small number of institutions are raising significant sums of money

from this source, and even fewer are accessing philanthropic funding to pay for research

and research-related activities. Whilst this may be disappointing for those hoping that

private donors can represent an important source of funding for university-based research,

it may also be interpreted in a more positive light as indicative of potentially significant

untapped potential.

There are many different types of university, which affects their likelihood of realising

philanthropic income as a result of investment in fundraising activities. Our data

demonstrates that success in fundraising is related to institutional privilege (what kind of a

university it is, in terms of wealth, reputation and pre-existing relationships with different

types of donors), as well as to the efforts made by universities (what the university does, in

terms of fundraising activities), and environmental factors (where the university is located,

in terms of the geo-political context). For this reason, we suggest that the concept of

‘accumulative advantage’ should be understood as an important factor, alongside ‘efforts’

and ‘context’ which have so far featured more prominently as key levers in the policymaking literature.