Richard Foster // August 15, 2019//
Virginia Tech announced today that it received a record $181.9 million in donations and commitments during fiscal year 2019, an 18% increase from the previous year. It marks the third consecutive year that donations to the university have exceeded $150 million, with $120.3 million of that raised in cash.
The $50 million gift from the Horace G. Fralin Charitable Trust and Heywood and Cynthia Fralin — the largest in the university’s history — for the renamed Fralin Biomedical Research Institute accounted for more than 27% of the total raised.
Nearly 36,300 donors — including individuals, corporations and foundations — contributed to Tech during the fiscal year that ended June 30. The university’s previous fundraising record was set two years ago, when the university raised $162.3 million.
More than 22,800 alumni contributed in fiscal year 2019, up 5% from the previosy year.
“Our alumni, friends, faculty, staff, parents, and students have shown how much they value Virginia Tech and are committed to its future,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “We are profoundly grateful for their record-setting generosity. With their support, we can change communities, the commonwealth, and the world through research and education. Thank you, Hokie Nation, for your strength and incredibly generous spirit.”