University of Hawaiʻi Foundation raises $115M for students, programs and research

The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation last fiscal year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024) raised $115 million, exceeding by 15% the annual goal for raising funds to support the 10 campuses of the University of Hawaiʻi System.

The final tally for the 2024 fiscal year totaled $115.2 million from 18,862 donors. It is the fourth consecutive year that funds raised for UH have exceeded $100 million.

The total was an 11% increase for a fiscal year that included the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation’s launch of For UH • For Hawaiʻi, the public phase of the most ambitious comprehensive fundraising campaign in Hawaiʻi’s history, to raise $1 billion for current and future students, faculty and researchers at all 10 UH campuses.

Giving in FY24 included nearly $10 million for programs to benefit relief and recovery from the August 2023 wildfires on Maui, including $1 million from the Stupski Foundation that issued immediate cash payments to UH students within a week of the fires.

The giving also included several sizable gifts to unique and innovative programs, including:

• $5 million from Walter Dods, Jr., for the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs innovation center and student dormitory that opened in August 2023 and was renamed the Walter Dods, Jr. RISE Center in his honor.
• $3.76 million from John C. Couch to establish the first-ever gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship program at the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) that will train physicians to treat liver diseases, including cancer, in the islands.
• $3.5 million to UH Mānoa from the Barbara Barnard Smith Foundation to fund the music department’s first-ever endowed chair for its innovative ethnomusicology program.

“It is incredible to see the broad support for UH, and the cumulative impact of each gift, growing stronger each year, especially following the launch of our historic $1 billion campaign,” said Tim Dolan, vice president of advancement at UH and CEO of UH Foundation. “We are forever gratefu l for our alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends who believe in the mission of supporting our state university system.”

The number of gifts rose 3.6% to 24,560, with many of those made by individuals and families in memory of loved ones, including faculty members or their spouses.

Alumni and other individuals also committed substantial gifts to UH for scholarships, faculty, research, facilities and programming for students, including a $2 million gift to create full-ride scholarships for nursing students at UH Maui College and a scholarship for students enrolled in the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business master in accounting program, with a preference for students who identify as LGBTQ+.

“Another year of growing and substantial support reinforces the validity of the audacious $1 billion fundraising goal we embraced for public higher education in Hawaiʻi,” said UH President David Lassner. “It’s an endorsement in our students, faculty and researchers and the critical role for UH in building a better future for everyone in the islands. Every philanthropic dollar represents a vote of confidence in Hawaiʻi’s university, and we are deeply grateful to every donor who believes in our mission, our people and our plan.”

The total included $30.5 million for student scholarships and other aid, $41.9 million for faculty and academic support and research and $593,538 raised during the university’s first-ever Giving Day in April.

“The generous philanthropy of our donors in support of the University of Hawaii is making a bigger impact every year and is a terrific investment in the future of Hawai‘i,” said Rich Wacker, chair of the UH Foundation Board of Trustees. “We thank every donor for joining us on this mission to elevate UH and Hawaiʻi to our highest potential.”

Student Success

• $1 million from the Stupski Foundation for a fund to provide immediate cash relief for UH students impacted by the Maui fires.
• $100,000 from Shidler College of Business alumnus Tom Wellman to create the Wellman Endowed Scholarship in Accountancy for students enrolled in Shidler’s master in accounting program, with a preference for students who identify as LGBTQ+. It is the second endowed scholarship with a preference for LGBTQ+ students at any UH campus and the first for Mānoa.
• $100,000 from the HPM Foundation to provide college scholarships for students enrolled at UH campu ses across the state.

Research That Matters

• $3.76 million from John C. Couch to establish the first-ever gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship program at the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine that will train physicians to treat liver diseases, including cancer, in the islands.
• $1 million from UH alumnus and philanthropist businessman Jay H. Shidler to the UH Cancer Center to start the Director’s Innovation Fund, to allow UH Cancer Center Director Dr. Naoto T. Ueno to advance his vision for the lifesaving research being done at the center. Shidler also gave the Cancer Center $100,000 to help the center increase public awareness of its work as it moves to its ne xt phase as an advanced research and patient care facility with the opening next year of its Early Phase Clinical Research Center.

Kuleana to Native Hawaiians & Hawaiʻi

• $700,000 from Alakaʻina Foundation for programs and scholarships that support Native Hawaiian students at UH Community Colleges, including the Cognition Learning Center at Kauaʻi Community College.
• $650,000 from Hawaiʻi Pacific Foundation to support the UH Mānoa Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health, the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence Support Endowment at JABSOM, I Hoa Na Mo‘olelo at the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and the Ho‘opuliko Kumu Hou Education Pathway program at UH West Oʻahu.
• $160,000 from Alakaʻina Foundation and Hawaiʻi Pacific Foundation for the Kauka Noa Emmett Auwae Aluli Memorial Scholarship at the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Sustainability & Conservation

• $540,000 from Alakaʻina Foundation to create partnerships for UH West Oʻahu, Leeward Community College and Windward Community College with community groups to promote sustainability.
• $100,000 from the Edmund C. Olson Trust 2 to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management for the Edmund C. Olson Trust 2 Scholarship, with a preference for students from the Kaʻū District on Hawaiʻi Island.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

• $5 million from Walter Dods, Jr. for the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs at UH Mānoa, which was renamed the Walter Dods, Jr. RISE Center in his honor.
• $3.5 million to UH Mānoa from the Barbara Barnard Smith Foundation to fund the music department’s first-ever endowed chair. The newly established Professor Barbara Barnard Smith Endowed Chair supports the university’s desire and commitment to revitalize its innovative ethnomusicology program, which educates students in world music with a special focus on Asia and the Pacific.

Building Hawai’i’s Workforce

• $5 million from Marc and Lynne Benioff in support of the state’s Hawaiʻi Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program (HELP) to help retain health professionals on Hawaiʻi Island.
• $2 million gift from the Gilbert and Aileen Chuck Foundation to create the Kam Scholars Program for the UH Maui College nursing program, full scholarships for the top-ranked students in the associate of science in nursing (ASN) program.

Engaging Our Community

• $1.1 million from Rie Wong to establish the Edwin & Rie Wong Endowment Fund to provide academic and student support for UH Mānoa student-athletes who are graduates of Hawai’i high schools. The endowment is open to men and women student-athletes in any sport and extends to helping them with the costs of attending summer school.

Where the money goes

• Student aid and special programs were top beneficiaries for the fiscal year, with $30.6 million going to student aid and $37.4 million going to special programs, an increase of 59% from the previous year for the two categories combined.
• Student aid awards grew 16.4% to $19.7 million, while the number of students receiving aid grew 3.1%.
• Within the student aid category, $26.1 million went to student scholarships, awards, fellowships and grants, while $4.5 million went to support general student aid and services.
• Research received $13.7 million, while chairs and professorships received $6.5 million, three times the previous year’s total of $2.1 million.

Strength of alumni giving

• Alumni giving rose to $30.9 million, 25.1% more than $24.7 million the previous year, while the number of alumni who gave rose 6.3% to 11,324, from 10,656 the previous year.
• Giving from parents and students totaled $323,176 while giving by friends of UH rose to $31.1 million and gifts from faculty and staff totaled $9.6 million.
• The amount received from corporations and foundations remained steady at $40 million, but the number of organizations giving rose 23.2% to 1,120, from 909 in the previous year.