For the second year in a row, LMU has surpassed all previous fundraising records with $72.9 million raised for the 2024 fiscal year, which ended on May 31, 2024.
“We are grateful to the generosity of the thousands who propelled the university to a second consecutive record-setting fundraising year,” said Peter Wilch, senior vice president for University Advancement. “More than 8,200 donors made gifts this past fiscal year, and through their support of student access and programs, dynamic teaching and research, and strategic facility improvements, LMU is positioned to ignite a brighter world.”
The total raised by LMU last fiscal year includes a $25 million matching gift from the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation in support of the Engineering Innovation Complex (EIC), a key addition to LMU Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering. This gift is the largest capital gift in the university’s history as well as the largest gift ever received from a living donor. In addition to the Leavey Foundation’s transformative gift to support the EIC, the broader LMU philanthropic community gave nearly $28 million to scholarships and financial aid and more than $19 million in support of student, faculty, and academic programs.
There were several gifts of significance from individuals in FY2024. Mary Breden, LMU’s beloved longtime choral conductor who retired in 2019 after 27 years of service, endowed a choral scholarship to ensure that all aspiring singers can have access to LMU’s outstanding choral programs. William J. Robinson, J.D. ’78, and spouse Gail made a $5 million bequest to support middle-class students pursuing a law degree, knowing that middle-class families often have the least access to financial assistance. Alex Yu ’87, who majored in business administration at LMU, and partner Patty Der committed to a $5.9 million bequest in support of undergraduate and graduate students of accounting. Yu has said that LMU took a chance on him when no one else would, and he wants to pay it forward.
The Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation, a prominent Los Angeles donor that has supported LMU since 1960, made a three-year, $300,000 grant toward the LMU School of Education’s comprehensive suite of Catholic leadership and teacher preparation programs, which include the Center for Catholic Education (CCE), Catholic Archdiocesan School Teachers (CAST), and Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education (PLACE Corps). This grant, which helps LMU continue its long tradition of educating Catholic school teachers, is made in addition to a $50,000 annual gift to support needs-based scholarships university-wide and a separate $5,000 grant for the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic’s Summer Arts Workshop.
The Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) continued to receive key support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which made a $300,000 grant to help advance the adoption and implementation of high-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials, and policies for English Learners and other priority populations. CEEL utilizes design-based research and methodology to improve critical components of professional learning services for the implementation of core curriculum materials and impact.
The sustained growth in philanthropic support at LMU bucks the national trend in charitable giving, which experienced a 2.1% drop in 2023 after inflation, according to a recent Giving USA report. Thanks to the unwavering support and generosity of LMU’s community of donors, the university not only outperforms other nonprofits, it continues to ignite a brighter world.
You can animate mission and have an impact by making a gift to the cause of your choice at LMU.