$103.6M raised for University of Hawaiʻi students, programs, research

The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation last fiscal year (July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023) raised $103.6 million, exceeding by 9% the annual goal for raising funds to support the 10 campuses of the University of Hawaiʻi System.

The final tally for the 2023 fiscal year totaled $103.6 million from 19,104 donors, which was 1,033 more donors than the year before. It is the third consecutive year that funds raised for UH have exceeded $100 million.

The giving included several sizable gifts from anonymous donors to unique and innovative programs, including $4.6 million for the new UH Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity and a $2 million gift to preserve the special collections at UH Mānoa’s Hamilton Library.

Donors also addressed the most basic struggles some students encounter in college, such as affording food and housing. To that end, the Stupski Foundation gave $1.8 million to address college affordability and basic needs for students.

“What’s incredible about these results is the breadth and depth of support for UH and the number of donors who support our state university,” said Tim Dolan, vice president of advancement at UH and CEO of UH Foundation. “We’ve seen how our donors respond to the most pressing issues facing Hawaiʻi and we’re seeing that this year with their gifts to help Maui. We couldn’t be more grateful.”

Among the 23,712 gifts received were those made by individuals and families in memory of loved ones, including faculty members or their spouses.

Alumni and other individuals also committed substantial gifts to UH for scholarships, faculty, research, facilities and programming for students, including the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE), a world-class innovation and entrepreneurship center and student housing facility that opened in August across from the UH Mānoa campus and was built under a public-private partnership between UH Foundation, UH and Hunt Cos.

“These results speak to the confidence our donors have in UH’s ability to improve the quality of life for Hawaiʻi’s people through higher education, now and for future generations,” said UH President David Lassner. “Every gift plays a role in changing lives, whether it’s our students’ success, strengthening our faculty or investing in our world-class research that addresses the most important challenges and opportunities facing Hawaiʻi and the planet.”

The total included nearly $16.5 million for student scholarships, more than $56.3 million for faculty and academic support and research and $514,266 raised during the university’s third-ever Giving Tuesday last fall.

“Philanthropy plays a powerful role in moving UH forward,” said Rich Wacker, chair of the UH Foundation Board of Trustees. “We are grateful for each and every donor and the trust they hold for UH.”

Workforce Development and Student Support

• A $387,586 grant from the Strada Education Network supports Honolulu Community College’s collaboration with local employers such as the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training Fund, Johnson Controls, Kini Zamora and Pacxa to develop and expand employer advisory boards to more deeply integrate labor market needs and standards into academic programs and create career pathways for students.



• The UH Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE) project, which opened in August, was the focus of giving from The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation, the Mamoru and Aiko Takitani Foundation and others who funded scholarships for the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship’s PACE Leaders program. The gifts are among the more than $5 million raised to support RISE.
• A $100,000 gift from Hawaiian Airlines established the airline’s first UH scholarship for students studying information technology, computer science, cybersecurity and related computer technology programs at UH Mānoa, UH West Oʻahu and UH Hilo.
• The Crankstart Foundation funded the Crankstart Foundation Re-entry Scholarship, designed for working adults who’ve been out of high school for a few, or many, years. Many of the recipients are also parents.
• AES Hawaiʻi gave nearly $55,000 to endow a scholarship for students at UH West Oʻahu interested in pursuing careers in sustainability and climate solutions, with a focus on graduates of public high schools in West Oʻahu, including Campbell High School, Kapolei High School, Nānākuli High School, Waiʻanae High School, and Waipahu High School.

Business and legal education

• An additional $5 million cash gift from alumnus Jay H. Shidler to support faculty research, student scholarships, provide matching funds for strategic investments in programs and existing endowments, provide funding for visiting faculty, as well as outreach activities at the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business.
• A $500,000 gift from the Cades Foundation, the charitable affiliate of Hawaiʻi law firm Cades Schutte, to the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa establishes the Cades Foundation Term Professorships over 10 years to support and retain faculty at the only law school in one of the most expensive places in the world.

Health care

• Hawaii Dental Service Foundation gave nearly $650,000 during the fiscal year that went to fund two ongoing programs, the Keiki Dental Sealant program at the UH Mānoa Nancy Atmospera Walch School of Nursing and the dental hygiene program at UH Maui College and the newly established part-time faculty position at the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM)—an oral health director to integrate oral health into the medical school’s core curriculum.
• Alumna Deborah Olson gifted UH West Oʻahu’s Pre-Nursing Pathway with $250,000 to address the program’s priority needs such for equipment and allow the program to increase the number of faculty.
• CoolingCancer.org’s $100,000 gift to the UH Cancer Center. Since 2013, the nonprofit organization has given a total of $445,000 raised from its annual golf tournament to support cancer research at the UH Cancer Center.

Native Hawaiian programs

• A $4.6 million gift from an anonymous donor funds the first endowed chair and programs and activities for the UH Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity, which was initially established with a $1 million grant in 2021 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health.
• The Hawaiʻi Pacific Foundation, a Native Hawaiian Organization whose mission is to empower Native Hawaiian communities through programs that create opportunities for success, gave a total of $1.4 million to more than a half dozen UH programs. The gifts support programs and scholarships at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the School of Ocean & Earth Science Technology, the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, the linguistics department and the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health at UH Mānoa, as well as programs at UH West Oʻahu.
• Alakaʻina Foundation, a Native Hawaiian Organization based in Honolulu, gave gifts totaling $660,000 that support programs at Kauaʻi Community College, the UH Community College system and UH Hilo. With these gifts, Alakaʻina Foundation’s giving to UH over the years totals nearly $1.8 million. The gifts fund the Kauaʻi CC Digital Bus Program; scholarships for Kauaʻi CC students transferring to the UH Mānoa College of Engineering and students enrolled in Kauaʻi CC’s Electronics Technology program; the UH Community Colleges’ Online Associate in Arts Degree Program and the UH Hilo Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language.

Basic Needs

• The Stupski Foundation provided a total of $1.8 million to fund a diverse set of initiatives to help students navigate the financial aid process as well as connect to basic services and resources such as housing and food. The funds cover five academic years through spring 2027.

Arts and Libraries

• Anonymous donors gifted $2 million to UH Mānoa’s Hamilton Library to support special collections of unique books, art, music, documents, journals, artifacts and online databases. The gift—the largest single donation ever made to the library—generously supports 12 sections that include special, area and archival collections, including maps.
• A $1 million gift from the trust of Jay Lowell Rego established the Elizabeth Spann Student Enrichment Fund in memory of his wife, who died in 2019, allows students from a variety of disciplines within UH Mānoa’s College of Arts, Languages & Letters (CALL) to enhance their academic experiences outside the classroom through research, travel, equipment, conference attendance, participation in performances, exhibitions, or competitions.

Athletics

• Events held at UH Mānoa in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the historic legislation which opened the doors for women’s athletics at universities across the United States, raised $700,000 to support Rainbow Wahine athletics programs.
• The UH Mānoa women’s soccer team received its largest-ever gift, $50,000, from Nan Inc., whose founder, Nan Chul “Patrick” Shin, is an old friend of Rainbow Wahine Head Coach Michele Nagamine.
• The UH esports program received a gift of $26,250 from Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union to establish the program’s first scholarship fund.

Where the money goes

Academic support and student aid were top beneficiaries for the fiscal year, with roughly $24 million going to each. Within the student aid category, nearly $16.5 million went to student scholarships, while $4.6 million went to the Student Aid & Services Program. Research received nearly $17.8 million, while special programs received $19.2 million.

Strength of alumni giving

Alumni giving nearly doubled to $24.7 million, from $14.2 million the previous year, while the number of alumni who gave rose to 10,656 from 10,389. Giving from parents and students more than doubled to $728,812, from $354,150, while giving by friends of UH totaled $28.8 million and gifts from faculty and staff totaled $1.8 million.