The University set a new fundraising record for the second straight year, despite earlier reports which predicted that some donors would withhold gifts because of former President Jimmy Carter's highly controversial visit to campus last January. Brandeis raised $89.4 million in cash donations for fiscal year 2007, topping last year's record of $81.3 million by 10 percent, according to numbers released July by the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. The largest contributions came from "friends" of the University, donors without alumni ties who gave $40.2 million, a $10.7 million increase from last year.

A report by The Jewish Week last February quoted now former trustee Stuart Eizenstat as saying that there were "more than a handful" of donors who informed the University that they would withhold their contributions because the school hosted Carter, whose book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," is critical of Israeli policy.

"I would urge Brandeis students not to believe everything they read in the papers," University President Jehuda Reinharz wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "Instead, I would suggest that they believe in Brandeis, as do our supporters."

Nancy Winship, the senior vice president of institutional advancement, said no major donors withheld contributions because of Carter's visit.

"We answered every phone call, e-mail and letter, and because we did that and explained the University's position, [the Carter visit] became a non-issue," she said.

Malcolm Sherman, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Jonathan Davis '75, chair of the Board's Development Committee, also said they didn't know of any donors who withdrew their support to protest the Carter event.

"Brandeis stands strongly as a beacon of open dialogue, and that sometimes engenders controversy, but I think the [fundraising] record speaks for itself," Davis said.

Donations from friends accounted for 45 percent of the total gifts, nine percent more than last year. Reinharz attributed Brandeis' ability to attract non-alumni donors to its strong links to the Jewish community and its small size.

"The support from the Jewish community came to Brandeis from the very start and continues today," Reinharz wrote. "I also think our small size makes Brandeis a very approachable place. People can have a personal relationship with Brandeis, and individuals can make a big difference here."



Davis added that the University's Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, new Center for Israel Studies and Crown Center for Middle East Studies, as well as its commitment to the sciences and social justice appeal to donors.

Alums donated $14.3 million this year, 16 percent of the total gifts, down from $19.7 million in 2006, 24 percent of last year's fundraising total.

Winship said alumni giving was abnormally high in 2006, however, because of the Katrina Emergency Tax-Relief Act, which made all charitable donations from last year completely tax-deductible. Due to those tax benefits, two alums paid $3.5 million gifts in lump sums last year instead of paying long-term pledges, Winship said.

Brandeis, founded in 1948, has 28,025 alumni with an average age of 41. While Harvard University, Dartmouth University and Wellesley College all received over 40 percent of donations from former students who graduated before 1952, Brandeis doesn't have any pre-1952 alumni yet.

"Our total alumni base is very small compared to all these universities we compare ourselves to, many of which have up to 200,000 or even 300,000 alums," Winship said. "Most of our alums haven't had a 25th reunion."

Davis said the career paths of Brandeis graduates also present an obstacle for the University's ability to obtain alumni gifts. "Many Brandeis graduates have gone into fields like teaching, social work and primary care." At other schools, more graduates choose "wealth-creating enterprises" such as investment banking, Davis explained.

Still, the Class of 2007 set a record for its senior class gift, as 64 percent of the class donated money.

"That shows how strongly students and graduates feel about this school and how much graduates have come to realize that they themselves are a big part of the University's success," Reinharz wrote.

Brandeis also received 31 alumni donations this year between $1 million and $10 million to its Campaign for Brandeis fundraising initiative, which has now raised $657 million, 85 percent of its stated $770 million goal to secure by June 2009, Reinharz said. The campaign will fund the new Shapiro Science Complex, new residence halls and the Safra Arts Complex, he said. The extra cash also helps the University pay for continually rising operating expenses as, he said.