Vanderbilt University celebrates record-breaking fundraising year, unprecedented impact

Spurred by the steadfast momentum of the Dare to Grow campaign and the generous support of the Vanderbilt community, the 2025 fiscal year was the strongest year of fundraising in Vanderbilt University’s 152-year history.

In addition to raising $345 million in new commitments, the university also exceeded its ambitious goal to engage 100,000 alumni through the campaign’s call to “Give, Go, Help, Share.”

“These milestones are more than numbers; they represent our community’s unwavering engagement and belief in the power of this campaign to change lives,” Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations John M. Lutz said. “Fundraising is a team sport, and we are profoundly grateful to the alumni, parents, families, students, faculty and staff who generously support Vanderbilt’s mission to become the great university of the 21st century.”

The Dare to Grow campaign—which eclipsed its original fundraising goal of $3.2 billion 20 months ahead of schedule, in fall 2024—has already driven far-reaching impact across the university. Since the start of the campaign, Dare to Grow has established more than 1,200 scholarships, raised more than $865 million to support faculty and research programs, and funded more than $365 million to fuel Commodore athletics, among many other areas.*

In the 2025 fiscal year, philanthropy advanced several foundational university priorities including residential colleges, the Vandy United campaign—which supported the Commodores’ remarkable year in men’s football, women’s basketball and beyond—and Opportunity Vanderbilt, the university’s hallmark financial aid program that enables Vanderbilt to provide debt-free tuition to students from families making $150,000 or less a year, which represents approximately three out of four American households.

In addition, recent support has significantly enriched university growth initiatives including Vanderbilt’s expanding presence in West Palm Beach and in New York City, as well as myriad projects designed to strengthen the local innovation ecosystem in Nashville, including the Institute of National Security and the university’s new College of Connected Computing, among many more.

“This record-breaking year, which has strengthened so many initiatives at Vanderbilt, is the perfect springboard for our future success as we enter the final year of the Dare to Grow campaign,” Lutz said.