Annual Giving Campaign FAQS

We are gearing up for our 10th Reunion in 2026, and are excited to get our campaign for Annual Giving underway! This page will address questions about what Annual Giving is and how individual contributions impact the experiences of students (and faculty!) at the University every day.

What is annual giving?

Annual Giving is “unrestricted gifts from undergraduate and graduate alumni, parents and friends [that] help provide the “margin of excellence” that makes a Princeton education second to none. Annual Giving sustains and enhances the University’s distinctive academic programs.”

  • No! Despite having an endowment of roughly $34.1 billion in restricted funds, the University relies on Annual Giving to bridge financing of all sorts. Each year, Princetonians raise a ballpark of $70+ million of unrestricted funds that make up Annual Giving.

  • Annual Giving money is not being spent on all of the new buildings you see if you have had the chance to come back to campus. Those are targeted or naming gifts, which are separate from alumni donations to AG.

  • Here are some of the major ways this money is put to important use:

    • recruit and pay top-in-field professors and researchers

    • enable independent student research (thesis or junior paper funding)

    • strengthen Princeton’s visionary financial aid program

      • 71.5% of students in the Class of 2028 receive financial aid.

      • 89% the number of recent Princeton seniors who graduated debt-free.

      • $73,000 the average scholarship grant for students in the Class of 2028, which exceeds Princeton’s tuition price by more than $10,000.

      • The LENS Program (Learning and Education through Service) has supported more than 245 students with paid service and social impact internships, launched through the unrestricted funds raised through Annual Giving.

  • Also no! Class dues are simply a $25 annual fee we collect from classmates that help our class to

    • pay the Alumni Council, which, is responsible for the governance of our Alumni Association and includes leaders from all alumni volunteer committees.

      • If you’ve ever attended a regional event, Reunions, read PAW, or been a member of an alumni association, it is organized by the Alumni Council.

    • cover the cost of our class events!

  • The hefty endowment is made of restricted gifts (ie, money given that can only be spent on what the donor chooses). Certain pieces of it are spent on employing professors in particular fields, or supporting the Lewis Center for the Arts. The list goes on, but importantly it doesn’t satisfy all the activities and securities the University wishes to offer students. That’s where AG comes in!

The Goal

While it’s exciting to raise a lot of money, we are at a stage of life where we are having kids, wrapping up medical or law or business degrees, or otherwise financially committed to causes that take our attention and care.

Therefore, our class goal is to have the highest participation rate of any 10th Reunion class ever. The number to beat is 80.9%, and I know we can do it. What you choose to give, be it $20.16 or $20,016 (good for you), rest assured it’s going to important research, student life, and financial aid that will support the next generation of Princetonians like us. I hope you join our class in giving as we celebrate going back for our 10th!