“Till 2016-2017, the institute used to raise an average of Rs 1 crore per year. Now, it has gone up to Rs 32 crore in 2022-23. Funding has more than doubled compared to the pandemic years,” said Professor Arya Kumar, dean, alumni relations at BITS Pilani. The institute has raised more than Rs 73 crore in the last four years from alumni including CSR funding.
BITS Pilani intends to raise Rs 45 crore this year from individual alumni, reunion batches and CSR, and is planning to launch a $100 million endowment fund in the last quarter of this year for transformational capital.
“The endowment fund, along with other donation avenues, such as naming rights on facilities will drive BITS Pilani forward,” said Kumar.
Funding plays an important role for educational institutes as it helps in research and innovation activities as well as in contributing to long-term needs.2023 marks the year when some institutes have received their biggest donations so far.In June, Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani donated Rs 315 crore to his alma mater IIT Bombay, the largest donation made by an alumnus. July saw Mumbai’s SPJIMR receive Rs 10 crore – the largest amount in the form of an endowment — from alumnus Sunil Bhatia, investor, and former CEO of Infogain, to fuel innovation and start-up initiatives.IIT Roorkee too received its largest-ever endowment of Rs 8.5 crore in the post-Covid period.
IIT Madras raised a historic high of Rs 231 crore from alumni, corporates, and donors in FY23, a near 76% jump over Rs 131 crore in FY22.
From October 2019 onwards till end FY-23, IIT Delhi’s Endowment Fund has received Rs 408 crore in pledges-to-contribute from over 425 donors spread across batches. Flipkart co-founders Sachin and Binny Bansal, Anant Yardi, founder of Yardi Systems, and Mission Holdings’ founder Saurabh Mittal have been some big donors in recent years who have pledged more than Rs 200 crore.
IIT Delhi is now planning to ramp up its alumni engagement activities in a big way, expecting bigger donations in coming years. “As the number of students passing out increases, they become potential donors in the future,” said a spokesperson
IIT Madras plans to take up several nationally scalable projects which can create long-term impact to encourage more alumni to come forward and support the institute.
“Post-Covid, the CSR segment has resumed its growth in tandem with the overall growth in the profitability of corporates in the country. Profitable organisations have a compliance requirement to invest in CSR activities and thus the segment grows proportionately,” said Kaviraj Nair, CEO, Office of Institutional Advancement, IIT Madras.
“Since Covid, the interest in this area has picked up significantly,” agreed Sheetal Wadhwa, alumni relations, SPJIMR. Their development plan includes fundraising for infrastructure, scholarships for new participants, endowments: chairs, naming rights: corporate donations for infrastructure on campus.
Prof. R.D Garg, Dean of Resources & Alumni Affairs (DORA), IIT Roorkee, said his office has been organising alumni reunions in campus for better alumni-alma mater connect.
Institutes are bullish about the road ahead. IIT Delhi says it would like to see alumni donations forming around 25% of its annual turnover soon. Over the years, IIT Madras hopes to meet at least 25% of the institute’s finance requirements through philanthropic funding.
“Universities gain excellence status through alumni involvement and endowments. The strategic thrust would be to become an institute of choice for students, faculty, and employers by focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation through diversified financial model,” says BITS’ Kumar.
