Drexel Concludes Record-breaking $800 Million Fundraising Campaign

With the closing of the fiscal year, Drexel University completed its most ambitious fundraising and engagement campaign in history by raising more than $800 million from more than 42,000 alumni and 4,000 friends of the University. 

The Future Is a Place We Make advanced University priorities related to student success (including scholarships, fellowships and co-op), faculty research, endowed professorships and chairs, academic support, civic engagement and learning spaces on campus. The $750 million Campaign publicly launched in 2017 after a “quiet phase” that began after the previous successful fundraising campaign, and surpassed its original goal of raising $750 million more than six months ahead of its June 2022 completion date.

“This is an extraordinary moment for Drexel,” said Drexel President John Fry. “Our alumni, colleagues, foundations, corporate partners and friends came together to support the incredible trajectory of the University and increase our impact on Philadelphia, the nation and beyond. They demonstrated their steadfast confidence and trust in Drexel’s capacity to serve and make a better world, and I am truly inspired and humbled by their generosity. The success of this Campaign positions Drexel well for securing support for the implementation of its new strategic plan.”

Planned as a “people-focused” initiative to support the University community, The Future Is a Place We Make created opportunities and improved the academic, student services and physical environments in which members of the Drexel community can work, learn and grow, including Gregory and Caroline Bentley Hall, Thomas R. Kline Institute of Trial Advocacy, Korman Center, Korman Family Quad and Raymond G. Perelman Center for Jewish Life. The Campaign also provided financial support and opportunities for faculty, professional staff and students. In the College of Engineering, for example, three endowed professorships were created: Cameron Abrams, PhD, became the Bartlett-Barry Endowed Professor; David Han, PhD, was recruited to Drexel as the inaugural Bruce Eisenstein Endowed Chair; and Caroline Schauer, PhD, became the Margaret C. Burns Chair in Engineering. And for students, a wide range and number of scholarships were established, such as the TransDigm Group-supported Doug Peacock Scholarship for female undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds studying at the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business and the College of Engineering.

The Campaign also marked a new era of alumni engagement and opportunities, exceeding its original target of reaching 35,000 alumni through philanthropic support, volunteer service and activity participation. 

 “As active participants in — as well as advocates and promoters for — our Campaign, dedicated and generous alumni have been critical to our success,” said Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement David Unruh. “More broadly, we generated enthusiasm, encouraged participation, and engagement, and built an even more strategic, data-driven and comprehensive advancement program that positions Drexel for further growth and evolution.” 

CAMPAIGN BY THE NUMBERS

Priorities Advanced

What parts of the University are benefiting the most from the Campaign?

• $214 million: Student success, including scholarships, fellowships and co-op
• $166 million: Research
• $142 million: Academic support
• $66 million: Academy of Natural Sciences
• $61 million: Unrestricted and other
• $48 million: Civic engagement
• $38 million: Endowed professorships and chairs for faculty
• $37 million: Learning spaces

Achievements Unlocked

What are some of the Campaign’s most notable accomplishments and milestones?

• $50 million: largest single gift made during the Campaign (Thomas R. Kline’s naming gift to the University’s law school in 2014)
• $15 million+: gifts supporting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives including The Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements and Population Health Equity, the Center for Black Culture, Women in Tech Scholarships at the College of Computing & Informatics and BRIDGE student funds at the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business and Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
• $1 million: record-breaking amount of funding raised during a single Drexel day of giving (24 Hours of Impact), in May 2021(and repeated in 2022)
• 1,300: donor-supported co-op stipends made available
• 240+: number of endowed scholarship and fellowship funds created for students
• 55%: percentage of donors who are Drexel alumni
• 42: number of operational and program funds (supporting co-ops, research and other initiatives) endowed 
• 19: number of endowed professorships, chairs and athletic coach positions created 
• 2: number of Drexel schools and colleges named for donors during the Campaign (Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health and Thomas R. Kline School of Law)

More information about the success of The Future Is a Place We Make will be shared in upcoming stories.