With basic state grants for research at low levels, donations are becoming an increasingly important source of funding for higher education institutions to be able to invest in research outside areas prioritised by politicians.
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is an example of a higher education institutions that has begun to work more strategically in the past decade to attract private donations.
The work started at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, but for some years now there has also been central support available to help all researchers through donation processes.
“When my colleague and I talk to researchers and emphasise that donations can be a complement to other funding, we find that some are a little concerned that someone from outside will interfere with their research or that their work may be perceived as being influenced from outside, especially if the donor is a company,” says Anna Lehrman, a fundraiser at SLU’s Vice-Chancellor’s Office.
Anna Lehrman
Fundraiser, SLU
But there are laws and guidelines to help us, she emphasises. A donation is a gift without any strings attached and must come from a named source. A donor may want to invest in a certain type of research, but it is for the university to decide whether it is relevant to accept money for research in that field and whether it is in line with the university’s own objectives.
The donor is not allowed to interfere in how the research is conducted or what the results will be, and this is not something Lehrman has ever encountered.
“But for the individual researcher, it is important that they don’t feel that they are put in a position of dependency or that they are expected to arrive at a particular result, and we need to be aware of that.”
If such a situation arises, she urges the researcher to speak to their manager and the university’s donations officer.
“We would then sit down with the head of the department, the dean or someone else in the management, and talk directly to the donor if clarification about the rules is needed,” she says.
In the event of a donation of more than SEK 100,000, a deed of gift, (known in some countries as a deed of donation), is written that specifies the purpose of the donation.
Do you include anything about freedom of research in the deed of gift?
“Not now. Perhaps it would be a good idea. A brief reference to the Donations Ordinance and guidelines would suffice,” says Lehrman.
The USA and the UK have a long tradition of donations to higher education institutions, she says, and this kind of funding is not regarded as strange or unusual there. At SLU, she sees that researchers who have no previous experience of such funding are the most hesitant.
Part of her job is to help with follow up about the donations that have been received. Donations are built on relationships, which if well nurtured can lead to further gifts. Keeping the donor updated is therefore important.
“I have full respect for the fact that inexperienced researchers sometimes neglect this aspect. They’re used to a different type of reporting, but we can support them with it. We also usually invite the donor to visit the research team to see what they have contributed to and learn about the next steps in the research.”
It is also important that higher education institutions proactively build relationships with alumni, philanthropists, organisations and companies. Lund University does this by following an internationally established method.
“It’s a question of long-term work to gain the trust of potential target groups,” says Pia Siljeklint, who works with donor relations at Lund University.
Pia Siljeklint
Donor relations, Lund University
She describes the importance of donations as multifaceted. Donations can complement other funding in a specific project, but they can also enable research in areas that lack other sources of funding.
“Some fields are very niche, and donations are the only way forward. There are examples of quite modest donations that have had a major impact.”
Well-managed donations also give the university a good reputation as a partner and make it more attractive to both researchers and students.
“Donors who are pleased with their choices are like ambassadors in the outside world. They are happy to talk about their choice and how they have been able to contribute to research,” says Siljeklint.
On the occasion of its 350th anniversary in 2017, Lund University ran the largest fundraising campaign in the history of Swedish higher education, bringing in SEK 4 billion. In February 2025, a private foundation donated SEK 420 million to cancer research at Lund University – the single largest gift to the university since its foundation.
People can donate anything from a small gift to a piece of real estate to a higher education institution. However, when it comes to property, the rules are immediately more complicated. Apart from SLU, state-sector universities and colleges are not allowed to acquire and manage real estate. However, some have been able to receive property and gifts for local purposes through various complicated foundation arrangements, though at least two higher education institutions have also declined such gifts because of the regulations.
If SLU is given a property, it is then owned by the state. If it is to be sold for an amount of more than SEK 5 million, the decision does not rest solely with SLU. The university must first ascertain whether any other state agency has need of the property.
For SLU, this complicated process came to the fore a few years ago, when a house with a large beachfront plot was bequeathed to the university. In the end, SLU received almost SEK 21 million from the sale, for research into diseases affecting dogs and humans, but the question is whether the testator knew that her gift could theoretically have ended up in the hands of another authority that saw a practical use for it.
There are also other obstacles to donations to higher education institutions. Uppsala University has as many as 609 affiliated foundations as a result of donations, and these are managed by a separate administration dating back 400 years. But managing a large number of foundations is not practical for all universities and colleges.
In 2021, the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum presented a report containing proposals for regulatory changes that would make things easier for both donors and higher education institutions within the existing regulatory framework.
One of the proposals is that state-sector universities should be permitted to set up a limited number of foundations of their own for general or specific purposes to which gifts could be channelled. The donor would then be able to avoid having to set up their own foundation, as there would be no risk of the donation being transferred to another state agency.
“With less bureaucracy, higher education institutions could build up financial buffers, have greater autonomy regarding their investments and enter into agreements that are not currently permitted,” says report author Pontus Braunerhjelm, who is a research director at the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum and a professor of economics at Blekinge Institute of Technology and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).
Pontus Braunerhjelm
Research director, Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum.
The foundation universities Chalmers and Jönköping University have greater freedom to accept donations.
“People who represent foundation universities say clearly that they feel they have more flexibility, which simplifies various initiatives and allows them, for example, to receive summer cottages and other real estate that they can then sell,” says Braunerhjelm.
Universitetsläraren has contacted the Minister for Education to enquire whether there are any government efforts underway to make it easier for higher education institutions to accept donations.
No overview of donations in Sweden
There are no comparable statistics on donations received by higher education institutions, as both definitions and methods of reporting donations differ. According to a survey of higher education institutions conducted by Universitetsläraren, donations to smaller universities and colleges are rare.
However, in 2024 the University of Gävle received SEK 500,000 from a large technology company for a lab for game-based learning. The Swedish Defence University and Dalarna University have received donations linked to art. Among the largest donations received by higher education institutions in 2024 were:
– SEK 34 million bequeathed by a professor emeritus at Umeå University to his department.
– SEK 125 million for five new professorships at the Faculty of Philosophy at Linköping University from a pair of local philanthropists.
– SEK 100 million to Malmö University for water research from a local investment company.
