2025 Impact Report | Giving to CU

Impact Report 2025

The Colorado you love is shaped by CU donors.

From across the state and around the world, CU donors help bring what you love about Colorado to life.

Donors gave $522.4 million across CU’s four campuses in fiscal year 2025—their second-highest giving total ever. More than 46,000 donors made nearly 79,000 gifts, averaging $1.4 million per day.

Discover the generosity powering what you love.

Scientist wearing blue latex gloves examining test tubes

This gift could launch a new age of treatments for Down syndrome.

CU sweethearts' love of art lives on in an endowment gift to the CU Art Museum.

Portrait of Doug Pikop at retirement from the Air Force as a major in 1993

A ‘rather ordinary person’ makes an extraordinary commitment to veterans.

Two people sitting next to a countertop examining bone and fossil samples

Archaeology students get rare career skills thanks to this unusual gift.

Windmills on a prairie with mountains behind

CU Boulder's position as a sustainability powerhouse gets a $10 million boost.

Dr. Terry Larsen in a suit and bowtie smiles at the camera

This alum earned his EdD in 1984—now he’s paying it forward.

A physical therapist working with a patient

A donor-powered search for the 'next great rehabilitation scientists.'

A tattoo artist turns ink into impact by supporting cancer research.

Scholarships empowered this first-gen student to 'break vicious cycles.'

Up close photo of a woman's brown eye illuminated by a light during an eye exam

Cures for the most serious eye diseases? A historic gift makes them possible.

A visionary investment launches CU into a 'new frontier beyond Earth.'

This professor's passion is shaping the future of public administration.

Every gift, of any size, makes a difference.

When more than 46,000 people give with purpose, the collective impact can move mountains. Their investments included:

$161 million to unearth new discoveries through research

$157 million to drive academic priorities, including health care

$63 million to support students with scholarships and fellowships

$40 million to attract and retain bright faculty and researchers

Last year, 93% of gifts were less than $2,500 each, showing a broad base of support for CU. Donors also made transformational investments across all campuses, including two gifts of more than $15 million each and 104 gifts of at least $1 million each.

Who gave to CU last year?

Alumni

Parents

Faculty & Staff

Friends

Corporations & Foundations

Other

The power of giving through wills and bequests

Last year, generous individuals chose to support CU’s future by including the university in their wills or estate plans, resulting in more than $128 million in planned gifts.

These contributions will create scholarships, advance research, support programs and establish new endowed chairs and professorships across all four CU campuses.

Learn more about planned giving opportunities at CU

Endowment Update

Strong, steady investment growth helps CU’s endowment provide dependable funding — supporting the university’s long-term mission and the people who carry it forward.

3,693 total active endowments benefit CU. Last year, donors created 133 new endowments and invested $103.7 million in endowments.

$2.5 billion endowment value

CU’s endowment was valued at $2.5 billion to end fiscal year 2025. Here are the endowment’s values in recent years. (Values are in billions as of June 30 each year.)

Bar chart showing University of Colorado endowment values from 2021 to 2025. Values are: $2.1 billion in 2021, $2.0 billion in 2022, $2.1 billion in 2023, $2.2 billion in 2024, and $2.5 billion in 2025. The 2025 bar is tallest and highlighted in black to mark the highest value.

How the endowment is invested

The endowment is invested in the Long Term Investment Pool, or LTIP, which is broadly diversified across asset classes with a long-term, strategic investment horizon in mind. Here’s how the LTIP was invested in fiscal year 2025.

CU investment performance

Here is the LTIP’s investment performance over the past 15 years. As of June 30, 2025, the LTIP’s 1-year annualized investment performance was +10.4%, its 3-year performance was 9.0%, its 7-year performance was +9.1%, its 10-year performance was +8.6%, and its 15-year performance was +9.2%. These returns were achieved with approximately 33% less risk than a portfolio invested exclusively in public equities.

Bar chart showing University of Colorado LTIP investment performance as of June 30, 2025. Annualized returns are: 10.4% of 1 year, 9.0% over 3 years, 9.1% over 5 years, 8.6% over 10 years, and 9.2% over 15 years. The chart highlights that these returns were achieved with approximately 33% less risk than a portfolio invested solely in public equities.

Transfers from the CU Foundation to the university

$269 million was transferred to the University of Colorado from the CU Foundation in fiscal year 2025. Here's how that amount was allocated to various areas of our institutions.

Download our audited financials

Find out more about philanthropic investments in CU by downloading our audited financials for fiscal year 2025.

Download audited financials