The BrownTogether fundraising campaign concluded on Dec. 31 after a decade-long run, raising over $4.4 billion in gifts from over 76,800 donors.
The University launched the campaign in 2015, aiming to fund its strategic plan, Building on Distinction: A New Plan for Brown. The campaign surpassed its original fundraising goal of $3 billion in 2021. In early 2024, it surpassed its extended $4 billion goal.
The University called BrownTogether “the most ambitious and successful fundraising campaign in Brown University history,” in a press release.
Donations from Brown alumni, non-alumni parents and first-time donors funded financial assistance programs, campus-wide facilities improvements and faculty and student research, among others.
Perhaps most notably, funding from the campaign has allowed the University to eliminate packaged loans from undergraduate financial aid and expand need-blind admissions policies to international and veteran students.
Over $728 million of the donor gifts were dedicated towards financial aid for undergraduate students as well as support for graduate and medical students. Funds from the campaign also help finance the Undocumented, First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center and the Center for Career Exploration.
“BrownTogether ignited the amazing talent, dedication and innovation that defines the Brown community in new and exciting ways,” President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 said in the press release.
The campaign also supported 143 new endowed professorships across various departments via $506 million in donations.
“We have strengthened and expanded our deep base of exceptional faculty who are pushing the boundaries of scholarship, inquiry and innovation,” Provost Francis Doyle said in the press release.
Of the money raised, $1.58 billion is dedicated to “supporting expanded research, educational innovation and integrative scholarship.”
Gifts from donors have supported initiatives like the Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, the Ruth Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, among others.
Additionally, a gift of $100 million was dedicated specifically to the Robert and Nancy Carney Institute for Brain Science.
Over $777 million in donor gifts from the campaign have supported more than 35 renovation and construction projects.
The campaign also funded new residence halls, including the Chen Family Hall, the William and Ami Danoff Residence Hall and the Wellness Residential Experience at Sternlicht Commons, allowing the University to achieve its goal of housing most undergraduate students on campus.
BrownTogether also raised $315 million to support the University’s Division of Athletics and Recreation, which financed the new Center for Lacrosse and Soccer, generated a fund to support student-athletes and established an endowment for the position of vice president for athletics and recreation.
Looking forward, the University plans to invest in projects in Providence’s Jewelry District, “advancing its role as an economic engine for Providence.”
“While the BrownTogether campaign has proven extraordinarily successful, the University’s continued aspirations include further investment to bring education and research to even greater heights,” the release reads.
“It has illuminated the many reasons people feel compelled to sustain and build on the work that faculty, staff and students do at Brown everyday,” Senior Vice President for Advancement Sergio Gonzalez said in the press release.
Correction: This story previously referred to Provost Francis Doyle solely by his last name on the first reference. The Herald regrets the error.
Roma Shah is a senior staff writer covering University Hall and higher education. She's a freshman from Morgan Hill, CA and studies Neuroscience. In her free time, she can be found doing puzzles, hiking or curled up with a book.
