University donations on the rise

Edinburgh is just one of many universities increasing their donation based funding.


Ivy League schools in the US have long been known for sustaining themselves on donations from former students but the trend has made its way across the pond to Universities in the United Kingdom.

Oxford and Cambridge saw the largest chunk of the money with the largest philanthropic donation in the history of Europe (£75 million, woah) being given to Oxford by venture capitalist Michael Moritz who wanted the money to be spent helping students from poorer backgrounds go to top education facilities.

But our bonnie Edinburgh hasn’t been left out. Last year the University met their fundraising target of £350 million, largely through donations. Here’s a look at some of the biggest donations the University has seen:

J.K. Rowling: £10m

Rowling and Princess Anne at the opening of the clinic last week.

Last Tuesday saw the opening of the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh as a result of the donation from our favourite Edinburgh novelist, J.K. Rowling. Rowling donated £10 million to the University in August 2010 and the work on the clinic has just been completed after it commenced in November 2011. The clinic will focus on developing treatments to slow the development of degenerative diseases including MS and Parkinson’s. The inspiration behind the project came from Rowling’s involvement in charities for Multiple Sclerosis, a personal connection for her as her mother died from complications surrounding the disease at 45.

Stephanie Shirley: £1m

Shirley donated £1m to the Patrick Wilde Centre.

Stephanie Shirley is an IT entrepreneur who sold her company in 1993 and since has given away a total of £65 million to various projects (we’d like to point out she’s a non-technophobic woman, go Shirley!). Shirley donated money to the Patrick Wilde centre, in memory of her son who died of autism at the age of 35. The money is to fund an imaging suite which will allow scientists to study autism with the view to understand the disorder better. As thanks, the University presented Shirley with a Benefactor Award at the McEwan Hall in 2013’s graduation ceremony.

 Anonymous: £1m

Old College completed after the £1m anonymous donation.

2010 saw an anonymous donation of £1 million pounds to the University, specifically to complete the building work in Old College, the home to the School of Law. 200 years after the building work began the money resulted in the finalisation of the project by William Playfair and Robert Adam, the building’s architects. Old College is one of the University’s most iconic buildings.

Now if only there’d be a donation to knock down the David Hume Tower….