IU Contributions Reach New Heights

A project at IU will receive the most of any in the state.

Indiana University is reporting a record year for research and philanthropic giving. In Fiscal 2018, IU received a total of $951.4 million in private donations and external research awards. During a Board of Trustees meeting Friday in Evansville, officials also said the university is within less than $500 million of its $3 billion "For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign" goal. IU Foundation Chief Executive Officer Dan Smith tells Inside INdiana Business a 20 percent increase in giving from private individuals and institutions was "beyond our expectations" and marked a fifth consecutive year-over-year rise.

In recent years during the fundraising campaign, Smith added, donations alone have averaged more than $400 million per year, well above the average in the preceding years. "(The) question that we receive a lot from trustees and others is ‘can you sustain this,’" he said. "Above all, I think that the university right now — that our alumni — really believe in what we’re doing. There’s a lot of commitment to a lot of our programs right now. So, when you add all of that up and kind of put it into the mix, what you end up finding is that we do, I think, have a sustainable, high level of performance, somewhere in that $400 (million) to $500 million range every year." The bicentennial fundraising campaign is due to be complete in June 2020.

IU says the more than $604 million it received from external funding sources for research and other activities is the highest total of its kind for any university in the state. "These remarkable figures once again underscore the fact that Indiana University truly is the state’s research powerhouse," said President Michael McRobbie. "They are testament to the quality of the outstanding research being conducted by our faculty, staff and students — research that expands knowledge, drives innovation, creates new industries and jobs, spurs economic growth and supports a high standard of living."

The "For All" campaign involves all IU-administered campus and medical education center statewide.