Funding higher education: Leveraging community, expanding horizons

When the news broke in 2022 that Dr Philip Ozuah, a University of Ibadan alumnus, donated $1 million to the College of Medicine, it reminded the public of two things. First, that the government alone cannot fund education, even though it still carries the primary responsibility for sustaining social systems like education. Second, that many higher institutions already have strong communities they haven’t fully tapped into.

It’s no news that Nigerian higher education suffers from chronic underfunding. We see it in the ASUU–FG recurring face-offs. Yes, the government holds the biggest responsibility. But it is also true that no nation grows on the strength of its government alone. There is always a need for public–private collaboration. And philanthropy, like what Dr Ozuah did, is one of the most common ways private citizens support systems like higher education.

Philanthropy is still a very powerful avenue for funding universities. That is why institutions continue to look to individuals like Dr Philip Ozuah, or groups like the College of Medicine Class of 1989—who donated $1 million worth of hospital equipment to UCH, home to their alma mater—within their community of students, alumni, faculty, and even parents.

However, the common view of philanthropy in higher education is often centred around high-net-worth individuals or well-off alumni groups. What if we expanded beyond this narrow scope?

My thoughts on this have been shaped over the last few years of observing how U.S. institutions, for instance, leverage Giving Tuesday, an annual global day of generosity instituted by the United Nations Foundation in 2012 to raise funds from their communities. Here, net worth isn’t the big factor. The real goal is simply board participation, getting as many people as possible to give something.

Last year, curiosity led me to run a cursory review of how American universities harness the day. The numbers were astounding. Tufts University, for example, builds a whole campaign around it, with multiple schools (faculties) and units competing in friendly funding challenges. The outcome? Over $4 million was raised in just 24 hours last year. For this year’s Giving Tuesday, which happened on 2nd December 2025, Tufts did even better with $5.5 million raised from almost 10,000 donors in a single day.

These results continue to make me wonder how Nigerian public universities could better leverage their communities. Private institutions are arguably already doing more in this regard. Our current approach for fundraising tends to focus on people who can give big amounts. But what if we built a system where everyone—students, staff, alumni, parents, and friends—could give anything, even 200 naira? What if we created something similar to a “giving day”, where the bar to participate is low enough that anyone can give anything? Crowdfunding is already part of our social fabric for individual needs. There is no reason institutions cannot adopt similar models.

And yes, it may take a while for a “giving day” culture to catch on here. But it can eventually become a trend. For example, Giving Tuesday was only started about 13 years ago in 2012.

However, we can admit that this culture of broad-based philanthropy is not as deeply entrenched in Nigerian everyday culture. So what makes it difficult here? What are the barriers we need to clear? I believe they fall into three major areas affecting three major stakeholders.

1. Universities: The issue of public accountability

People need to trust the process. That means transparency, not just in how funds are collected but also in how they are used. Universities need a place where the public can see fundraising goals, progress bars, and after-the-fact reports showing how the previous year’s funds were used.

2. Fintechs: The technical infrastructure and partnership

Fundraising that depends on large numbers of people must be technologically reliable. Glitches can erode trust, especially around the safety of funds and data privacy. Fintechs could also support by lowering transaction fees for fundraising platforms as a form of CSR. Instead of donating money, they donate reduced costs. This can encourage more donor participation.

3. Government: Incentives that can shift culture

To build a culture of giving, people need incentives. One clear pathway is tax deductions. Right now in Nigeria, charitable donations are tax-deductible for companies but not for individuals. This is a gap that the ongoing tax reforms can address. Removing that barrier would encourage more people to support social systems like education.

In summary, we need to rethink how we do philanthropy for higher education, like other social systems. Encouraging, organising, incentivising, and making it easy for people across different income levels to give at whatever level they can will go a long way in shifting how universities fund themselves in the years ahead.

Oluwatoyin is a STEM education doctoral researcher.  She writes from Nigeria and the United States. She can be reached at [email protected] or on LinkedIn here.