FAQs for donors

There is philanthropic satisfaction in supporting outstanding students and enabling them to gain degrees from one of the world’s leading universities.  Many students would not normally be able to afford this from their own resources.

The University of Cambridge’s stated aim is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.  Scholars at all levels of study within the University help to achieve that aim, and graduate research can (and often does) lead to major advances in many academic and applied fields.

In addition to contributing to the individual development of students, and therefore also of their home communities, a donor gains access to some of the brightest and most forward-looking minds in the University, and a pool of alumni with whom to keep in contact after they have completed their studies.

Major donors to the Trust, and thereby to the University, may be invited to join the Guild of Benefactors or the Vice-Chancellor’s Circle in recognition of their generosity.  The names of individuals, companies, foundations and trusts that have been welcomed as Companions of the Guild since its inaugural ceremony in 1998 are recorded on the Benefactors’ Staircase in the Old Schools, the historic heart of the University.  Cambridge Australia Scholarships, Thomas & Grace Chan, Yousef Jameel, the Open Society Foundations and Schlumberger have all been recognized in this way in recent years.

The Trust is an Exempt Charity that was founded in August 2013 from the merger of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Cambridge Overseas Trust.  These were originally founded by endowment by the University of Cambridge in the 1980s, and were tax-exempt charities registered in the UK.

The Trust is governed jointly by a group of Trustees appointed by the University, with day-to-day management delegated to the Director and staff.

Scholarships awarded by the Trust are funded from:

• interest earned on endowment funds
• annual donations from the University and many of its constituent Colleges and Departments
• funds from external partners

The Trust’s approved Accounts are posted annually on this website; the audited Accounts for the financial year 2019-20 can be viewed here.  

The majority of the Trust’s investments are held with the Cambridge University Endowment Fund (CUEF).  CUEF’s long term investment objective is to achieve or exceed an average annual rate of total return, net of all costs and before distributions are taken into account, equal to CPI plus 5.0% such that after the monthly distributions are taken into account there will be annual growth in the fund unit value equal to CPI plus 1%.  A further objective is to manage judiciously the risk taken in order to meet the total return objective, by utilising diversification of investment strategies, of investment asset classes and of investment managers.

There are several methods of donating - click on the links for more detailed information:

• donation to the general funds of the Trust
• donation towards all or part of the costs of a specific scholarship programme (either a new scholarship or an existing programme)
• establishment of an endowment

The Trust is able to collaborate with any type of donor - including institutions, registered charities, educational establishments, corporations, individuals, government departments and agencies - provided that the aim of the donation reflects the aims of the Trust and contributes to our long-term policies.

A donation may serve one of several purposes:

• the support of one or more scholars in Cambridge in a single year
• the support of one or more annual scholarships for a fixed number of years
• the establishment of an endowment fund that provides a minimum level of return in order to support one or more annual scholarships in perpetuity

Each country has different tax regulations concerning charitable donations.  We suggest that you take advice within the country in which you pay income tax, or contact either the Trust or the University’s Development Office for further information.

Yes, scholarships can often reflect the name or wishes of the donor(s), and we would be happy to discuss the name of a new scholarship programme with you.

Our awards are normally called ‘Scholarships’, and occasionally ‘Studentships’.  We avoid the term ‘Fellowships’ as the term ‘Fellow’ is used in Cambridge to refer to a senior academic within a College, not to a student.

The Trust can only receive donations towards scholarships managed by the Trust that support students on degree courses at the University of Cambridge.

The University’s Development Office would be happy to discuss any other types of donation.