Donations to the University declined by 6.4 percent for fiscal year 2010. Despite the drop, Stanford remained at the top of U.S. college fundraising, collecting $599 million for the 12-month period that ended in June 2010.

This puts Stanford right above Harvard, which raised $597 million. During the same period, however, the S&P 500 increased 12 percent.

“It is certainly the case that many of our donors have been impacted by the recent financial turmoil, which likely influenced their short-term decision-making about philanthropy,” wrote Rebecca Smith Vogel, assistant vice president of the Office of Development, in an e-mail to The Daily.

Smith Vogel also pointed to the timeline for the Stanford Challenge campaign as a possible cause for the lull in donations. The Stanford Challenge is a five-year campaign to raise $4.3 billion for multidisciplinary research, support for K-12 education and undergraduate programs and support for the University’s core teaching and research.

The fact that the program is currently in its final year may account for the current state of donations, Smith Vogel said.

“It is not unusual to see overall giving dip in the middle years of a multi-year campaign, since many of the larger gift commitments were secured in the early years to get the campaign off to a strong start,” she said.

Smith Vogel also noted that, despite the dip in the dollar-value of donations, the number of individual donors rose to a record 76,487 in 2010. The new record represents an 8.5 percent increase over fiscal year 2009. Smith Vogel stated that this increase is a signal “that donors are very committed to Stanford, its mission, its faculty and its students.”

“It bodes well for the future,” she added.

The University’s financial health is bolstered by another factor; The Stanford Fund received a record-setting contribution of $20,208,377 last year.

With the recession, the endowment took a large hit at the same time that student need rose significantly. The Stanford Fund, along with other annual gifts, was one of the primary sources of funding for undergraduate student aid during the economic turndown.

Overall, giving levels rose over the past 10 years, a trend that is expected to continue.