Over 20,000 Alumni Contribute to $75M Fundraising Goal

Temple University reached it’s second-highest year in fundraising with contributions from alumni and other donors. Donations greatly surpassed the $75M fiscal year goal, totaling to almost $79M. Funds for student scholarships have increased due to these substantial gains.

James Dicker, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, pointed out an increase in nearly 5,000 donations from the previous year. According to the recent report, the funds for student scholarships nearly doubled from $7.6 to $15 million.

The largest contribution this year came from Trustee Leonard Barrack, FOX ’65, LAW ’68, and his wife Lynne, EDU ’68. The $5 million donation will go towards developing a Scholars in Law initiative at Beasley School of Law.

This year’s funds are second-highest only to 2015. Last year late Trustee Lewis Katz donated $25 million, the largest donation in university history.

According to the report, Temple saw a jump in the amount of donors from all monetary classes. Donors of $1 million or more increased from 10 to 16 while donors of $100,000-999,000 rose to 77, up from 73 the year before. 37,868 people donated under $1,000, a jump from the 34,022 who donated last year.

Vice President Dicker stated he “couldn’t be more thankful for the generosity of Temple’s donors, alumni and friends,” and that “[Temple’s] success is a reflection of their strong support and commitment to moving the university forward.

The School of Media and Communication received leadership gifts surpassing $2M from the Communication Board of Visitors member Steve Charles, SMC ’80. The donation will implement the Steve Charles Chair in Media, Cities and Solutions – the first donor-endowed academic chair.

In addition to Charles’ gift, another endowment came in the form of the James B. Steele Chair in Journalism Innovation. The Wyncote Foundation of Philadelphia partially funded this opportunity by contributing $2M.

Temple’s field hockey and lacrosse teams received a new field over the summer months in honor of former field hockey student-athlete Cherifa Howarth’s $500,000 gift. For more information visit Temple University Giving.