Exploring Philanthropy in Higher Education: University of the Western Cape’s Comprehensive Study
In addition to government subsidy and tuition fees, the 26 public universities in South Africa heavily rely on philanthropic and donor funding as a crucial component of their Third Stream income.
It is used to complement their budgets, finance base and several aspects of their academic and support programmes. As part of understanding this type of income, a survey of between 10-12 universities was conducted over a period of eight years.
The eighth edition of the Annual Survey of Philanthropy in Higher Education (ASPIHE) has recently been published. This research was started in 2013 and the aim of the survey is to publish comprehensive data and analysis on philanthropic support to some South African universities.
The study was commissioned by Inyathelo, the South African Institute for Advancement, which works to sustain and strengthen civil society organisations and grow local giving in support of democracy.
The lead researcher of ASPIHE was Beverley Thaver, Professor in Higher Education Studies at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), and Dr Mark Abrahams, an Independent consultant. The survey gleaning data for 2020 is available online.
“What is important about the survey for 2020 is that this was the period when university campuses were closed as part of the COVID 19 pandemic,” Prof Thaver explained. “Given this, three questions were included in the research instrument in order to understand the nature of giving under COVID conditions. For those institutions included in the study, the results are uneven. However, what is important is that donors gave on a greater scale. In other words, there was more giving in 2020 than previous years”.
Prof Thaver said the funding was directed at emergency measures as well as medical research, in some instances. She mentioned that some of the philanthropists have taken a “long-term view” on medical research related to the pandemic. “We know that South Africa has quite a few universities leading in terms of medical research in this area. The field of philanthropy is quite broad, and it is not always easy to draw finite conclusions from the data”.
According to the survey, philanthropy ranges from individual giving, trust foundations, alumni and endowments. “It is important to acknowledge the functions of the offices on campuses that go a long way towards fundraising. As such, universities should provide support to these offices,” Prof Thaver commented.
The survey includes 10 institutions and encourages all the remaining universities in the country to participate so that the national system can get more information on how philanthropy is (or, is not) strengthening all institutions, Prof Thaver added.