U Foundation had record fundraising year amid tough times for higher ed

The University of Minnesota Foundation had its best-ever year in 2026, bringing in $541 million in gifts. The donations came in the form of more than 87,000 pledges, cash donations and estate commitments during the 2026 fiscal year, which spanned summer 2025 to summer 2026. About $336 million was immediately available for the U’s use, also a record-high amount, foundation officials said. It comes as the foundation just became financially independent of the U in July, and as the university’s leadership prepares to make large spending cuts over the next two years. “We had set a big goal of raising $410 million. We obviously blew that out of the water,” said Sarah Youngerman, vice president of marketing and communications for the U’s foundation. Advertisement The 2026 total topped the previous year’s $464 million, which at the time was also the largest sum ever raised. University-wide fundraising totals have increased by 73% since 2016. Officials said they’ve heard 2026 was a good year for higher education fundraising, including among Big Ten schools. In fact, the last three to four years have been high-performing for the foundation, which started in 1962. “Market conditions have been really good for philanthropy,” said John Morris, the U foundation’s president and CEO. “The economy is good ... [and] this is an overstatement, but when the stock market does well, giving tends to correlate.” Industry groups that survey charitable giving each year haven’t released any reports yet for fiscal year 2026, but “it’s not much of a stretch” to guess that many higher education institutions saw success, said Jon Bergdoll, interim director of data and research partnerships at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.