College of Charleston Celebrates Banner Year for Philanthropy

Fiscal year 2024 (FY24) has been a banner year in many ways, but one thing that truly stands out is the nearly $27 million in gifts and commitments raised by the College of Charleston Division of Institutional Advancement. This support represents the largest amount raised in the College’s 254-year history.

“Our growing culture of engagement and philanthropy at the College is what has made this historic landmark possible,” says Dan Frezza, chief advancement officer. “I am so thankful to the generosity of our community. Through the power of philanthropy, we are positioning this university so that it will benefit our students, the community and the region for generations to come.”

Through the 9,548 donors who chose to support the College in FY24:

• 28 new endowed funds were created, adding to the College’s more than 700 existing endowed funds;
• unrestricted commitments, which allow the College to focus on areas of greatest need, reached the highest level in the university’s history, with $1,397,852 in commitments;
• privately funded scholarships received an influx of $11,469,492, including 28 new endowed and restricted scholarships, bringing the total active scholarships to approximately 620;
• the 1770 Society, which recognizes donors who donate $1,000 or more annually, saw an increase of 130 donors, leading to the largest number of 1770 Society–level donors on record – 1,987;
• gifts between $50,000 and $150,000 grew by 20% over the previous year, resulting in the largest number of gifts in that range; and
• corporations and foundations contributed $4,150,310 of the College’s total gifts.

Making the College a priority, 5,020 alumni donated, bringing alumni participation to 7.52%. Undergraduate and graduate student donors totaled 538, and the 2024 graduating class had 267 donors.

Scholarships, which passed the $11 million mark, remain the university’s highest philanthropic priority. Scholarships allow the College to recruit more outstanding students. In FY24, 1,458 scholarships were awarded to 1,104 students, giving them the ability to focus on their studies without financial stress and greater flexibility when considering experiential learning opportunities such as internships and study abroad.

The university also received seven seven-figure gifts.

• The Zucker family gifted $2.5 million for School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematics scholarships and for a Zucker Family Challenge on CofC Day.
• Mark Buono ’81 and Judy Buono ’22 (M.Ed.) gifted $2 million to establish the Buono Endowed Professorship in Commercial Real Estate and the Mark and Judy Buono Endowed Scholarship for education students.
• The Guffey Family Foundation gifted the Honors College $1 million to support scholarships for the Charleston Fellows, the Honors College’s top scholars program.
• New estate intentions and estate revenue were also a significant factor with three gifts of more than $1 million.

“I am so grateful to our dedicated alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends who support our mission to develop ethically centered, intellectually versatile and globally fluent citizens,” says College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu. “It is through philanthropy that we are able to produce future leaders who will play critical roles in creating solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges.”

These future leaders are also engaged alumni. Their engagement has grown philanthropically and through participation in athletics events, CofC Clubs and Fall and Spring Alumni Weekend. To foster greater alumni engagement, plans are underway to resurrect Homecoming on CofC’s campus, November 15-16.

Alumni and fan engagement in CofC sports, particularly men’s basketball and baseball, led to a banner year for Athletics, which secured more funding for facility upgrades and student athlete scholarships and support.

These institutional advancement successes were due in large part to multiple new and reimagined programs.

• To enhance parent engagement, the Parent Advisory Council evolved into the Parent Leadership Society, which elevates the way parents get involved and give back.
• CofC Day expanded to be 1,770 minutes, or 29.5 hours, as a nod to the College’s founding. It also utilized innovative challenges to encourage donors to give.
• To manage the growth in philanthropy at the College, the Division of Institutional Advancement is expanding its investment in regional engagement, from enhanced alumni engagement programs to the creation of a regional development team that will incorporate CofC staff living in key alumni regions. These team members will meet with people in their area and participate in CofC-related events, including the CofC clubs.

With all that the Division of Institutional Advancement has planned for FY25, the team is certain to achieve even greater milestones moving forward.