The University of Connecticut had its largest fundraising year ever for fiscal year 2026 with $171 million raised after the university announced a new donation campaign, according to UConn Today.
“Because of UConn” was announced to the public on April 24, 2025, as the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the history of the university with a goal of $1.5 billion . The campaign currently sits just below the billion-dollar mark, exceeding $900 million in early June, according to UConn Today.
The campaign began in 2020 with a silent phase of fundraising that raised $720 million before UConn publicly announced the effort in 2025.
The UConn Foundation raised $71.4 million in the 2019 fiscal year before the silent phase of “Because of UConn” began, according to UConn Today. The $171 million raised during 2026 marks a 143% leap in annual donations for the public period in the campaign.
Four priorities were laid out in the campaign to guide donors towards gifts that propel the university’s mission, according to UConn Today. The categories were “students first,” “academic and innovation excellence,” “health and wellness of people and planet” and “Husky pride.”
One pillar which received the largest boost from new donations was the Students First Fund which saw a 930% increase in funding during fiscal year 2026, according to UConn Today. Since 2008, donors have been able to contribute to the fund, which provides students with limited emergency assistance of up to $1,000, according to the Norwich Bulletin.
Board of Trustees chairman and co-chair to the campaign Daniel Toscano told UConn Today that boosts to the Students First Fund should help the university’s graduation rate.
“Those resources [of the Students First Fund] provide critical support when students face unexpected challenges, helping ensure that a temporary hardship doesn’t become a barrier to earning a UConn degree,” Toscano said.
The campaign has received a mix of large and small donations with 89% of gifts from the 69,655 donors so far at this point of the campaign being under $1,000. Some of the leading gifts during this fiscal year addressed multiple of the campaign’s priorities.
One example comes from the Elisabeth C. DeLuca Foundation’s $10.45 million commitment to open new paths for nursing and STEM opportunities at UConn’s Waterbury campus. This gift aligned with three of the campaign’s priorities including students first, academic and innovation excellence and the health and wellness of people and planet, according to UConn Today.
Other large donations focused solely on a single target of the campaign like Husky pride, which focuses on student-athletes and athletic programs.
Robert Stefanie Skinner donated $15 million to support UConn’s athletic efforts. $10 million of that was dedicated towards a permanent endowed fund supporting the head coaches of the UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams, according to UConn Today.
“Because of UConn” also reached 85% of its engagement goal with the general community participating in alumni opportunities like events, volunteering and social media more than one million times, according to UConn Today.