About Our Donors
125,699
Individual Donors
86,013
First-time Donors
56K | 44.6%
Alumni
20.5K | 16.4%
Parents
44.5K | 35.4%
Friends
4.5K | 3.6%
Organizations
Unprecedented Growth
Group Fundraising
That Elevates
When an anonymous donor family pledged $1 million to Hendricks Chapel and issued a challenge to inspire other donors to match it, no one anticipated the extraordinary response for what is widely known as the spiritual heart of Syracuse University. The family promised an additional $1 million if the challenge could be met. By the end of the 2023-24 academic year, more than 2,500 donors had answered and raised more than $1.7 million. The challenge’s combined total exceeded $3.7 million for Hendricks Chapel.
Read about the Hendricks gift challenge
This outpouring of support is the direct result of the good work Hendricks Chapel does every day to foster belonging, friendship and acceptance within our campus community. It is truly in the spirit of Hendricks Chapel that so many who benefited from its programs made gifts to support a strong interfaith community for the next generation of students.”
— Chancellor Kent Syverud
In September 2023, the Kappa Lambda chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. celebrated its 50th anniversary—and the culmination of a 10-year endowment campaign that raised a historic $1.2 million for the Our Time Has Come program.
The women of DST make a deep commitment to sisterhood, scholarship, service and social action. Their fundraising effort drew more than 300 donors from the historically Black Greek letter organization, 40 percent of whom gave to Syracuse for the first time.
Read about DST’s fundraising
Philanthropy That Inspires
Syracuse University Life Trustee Howard G. “Howie” Phanstiel ’70, G’71, H’22 is a strong believer in giving back and creating opportunities for others. Phanstiel and his wife, Louise Phanstiel, a voting member of the Board of Trustees, established the Phanstiel Scholars program more than a decade ago to create opportunities for Syracuse students in their pursuit of academic excellence and community engagement. To date, more than 120 Phanstiel Scholars have been inspired to give back, be involved, and have a positive influence on others.
Read about the Phanstiels
Jenna Poma ’25, a policy studies and citizenship and civic engagement major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, appreciates the Phanstiels’ belief in her and investment in her future. In turn, she’s been inspired to move outside her comfort zone—participating in clubs and organizations, taking on leadership roles and dedicating herself to her studies. As a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority, Poma has been involved in numerous philanthropic activities which serve those in need in the local community. “Being a Phanstiel Scholar means accepting gifts graciously and committing to pay them forward. It means leaving the people and places you engage with better off with you having been there,” she says.
Our Donors:
Forever Inspired
Forever Orange was a campaign for everyone. From first-time donors and students making class gifts, to groups supporting favorite organizations and affinities, to transformational giving that changed the fabric of campus—we rallied around common goals like never before.
A Legacy That Continues
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications welcomed Donald E. Newhouse ’51 and his family back to Syracuse University in August 2024 to mark the school’s 60th anniversary with celebratory events highlighted by the renaming of the plaza between the school’s three buildings in the family’s honor. The owner of Advance Publications, Donald Newhouse is the patriarch of one of the first families of American publishing. Advance was founded by his father, Samuel I. Newhouse, in 1922.
On what is now the Newhouse Family Plaza, Donald Newhouse recounted how he observed a meeting in the late 1950s between his father and then-University Chancellor William P. Tolley during which the idea for the Newhouse School was conceived.
The Newhouse family is one of the University’s largest donors, including the $75 million pledge by the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation to the school in 2020. That pledge was the single largest gift in the University’s history, intended to ensure that Newhouse would remain the leading communications school in the world for another generation.
Read about the Newhouse legacy
I am fortunate to have the chance, in the same month that I celebrate my 95th birthday, to look back with overwhelming pride at the record of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. It is one of the great joys of my life.
— Donald Newhouse
Donald Newhouse delivers remarks during the 60th anniversary ceremony. (Photo by Malcolm Taylor ’26)
Generosity That Endures
Generosity That Endures
From meeting at new student convocation, to marrying after junior year and graduating together in 1951, Jack and Laura Milton were devoted to each other and to Syracuse throughout their lives. They supported many institutional priorities, giving to the Life Sciences Complex and Whitman School of Management. More recently, the Jack and Laura H. Milton Endowed Professorship in Arts and Sciences was established to recognize teaching and research excellence, and in 2024 chemistry professor Robert Doyle was named the inaugural endowed chair.
The Miltons devoted their time to Syracuse University as well, serving on the advisory boards at their respective schools and colleges. Jack was also a member of the Board of Trustees and a Life Trustee for many years.
After Laura’s passing in 2023 (Jack passed in 2015), a transformational gift from their estate conveyed a final act of love for their alma mater and commitment to its students. One of the largest unrestricted gifts in the university’s history, Jack and Laura’s legacy is forever connected to Syracuse and reflects their belief in our mission. In tribute to their enduring impact, the former apartment complex at 727 South Crouse Ave., a fully modernized space primarily home to second-year students, was renamed Milton Hall and dedicated on Sept. 28, 2024. Pictured above are Chancellor Kent Syverud and Dr. Ruth Chen with members of the Milton family.
Impact of
Planned Giving
Donors with the foresight to establish planned gifts weave their legacy into ours, supporting scholarships, faculty and research funds, athletics, capital projects, graduate fellowships and more.
1,260
donors made planned
gifts during the campaign
$393M
committed in planned gifts
You don’t have to be a megamillionaire to support a cause, to advance education and to support young people. You just have to decide what your priorities are—and then take action.
— Henrietta “Etta” Fielek ’70, G’77, donor and 1870 Society member