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Donations Drive Paying Off For UniversitiesMon, April 24, 2006Source: Guardian UnlimitedThe endowment and investment income of British universities has jumped by almost 24% as institutions put more resources into targeting benefactors and alumni.The endowment and investment income of British universities has jumped by almost 24% as institutions put more resources into targeting benefactors and alumni. Endowments are a small part of the £18bn total income for higher education institutions that year, but the figures show that universities are taking income-raising more seriously, establishing development offices and wooing potential donors. Oxbridge colleges have been doing it for years but other parts of the sector are beginning to emulate them, though British efforts are tiny compared to the vast fundraising industry of American universities. Scotland lags behind the rest of the country with an 11% increase in endowment and investment income, compared with nearly 25% in England. Welsh universities showed a 32% increase to £14.4m while the endowment and investment income of Northern Ireland's two universities jumped 53% to £3.4m. Government grants distributed via the funding councils remain the biggest source of university income at nearly £7bn (a 6.8% increase compared to 2003-04). Tuition fees and teaching contracts accounted for £4.3bn, and research contracts £2.8bn. Staff costs at Scottish universities rose slower than in the UK as a whole (4.9%, compared to 6.6% for England and 6.8% for the UK as a whole). Scottish and Welsh universities also appear to be borrowing less - interest payments remained static in Scotland and fell in Wales while in England they rose 7.6%. The figures are likely to be seized on by both sides in the increasingly bitter lecturers' pay dispute. The unions will point to above inflation increases in income while the university employers will argue that staff are already benefiting from pay rises and their pay bills have been rising. A Universities UK spokesperson said: "The increase in endowments and investments partly reflects the enhancement of fundraising initiatives by higher education institutions (HEIs) over the past few years. "Although fundraising is seen as a long-term activity by HEIs and is only a small part of the overall income, it's clear that the higher priority given to fundraising is beginning to pay off. Only this year we saw a total of 78 HEIs apply to the matched funding scheme. This initiative resulted in a total of 27 HEIs receiving a match fund investment from the government to increase income from private donations." |