We’re extremely grateful for the tremendous generosity of our alumni, law firms and friends. Their gifts enable us to maintain the high standards that help equip our students with the tools to succeed in the 21st-century global legal community.
Whatever your capacity or your philanthropic goals, we offer a wide range of opportunities for giving – from our Annual Fund, which raised more than $1 million last year alone, to endowments, planned gifts and personalized giving programs.
"I give because I can. When I was growing up, I dreamed of going to Case, but I did not think I would be able to afford it. Thanks to the generosity of alumni, I was given opportunities I never knew existed. Giving to the law school is my way of celebrating accomplishment and investing in the future."
Annual Fund
Last year alone, our Annual Fund donors provided more than $1 million in vital support that helped us:
- Attract and maintain world-class faculty and students.
- Continue to provide innovative programs such as the CaseArc Integrated Lawyering Skills Program – a first-of-its-kind integrated lawyering skills program preparing students to become successful, practice-ready attorneys from the minute they graduate.
- Provide experiential learning opportunities through the Milton and Charlotte Kramer Law Clinic, trial advocacy, moot court, externships, labs and more.
- Continue our commitment to need-based financial aid for our students. Last year we were able to award scholarships to almost 50% of our student body.
- Renovate our classrooms and the law library – and equip them with the necessary tools and supplies – to maximize our students' learning experience.
- Offer a broad academic experience including scholarly journals such as the Law Review, Journal of International Law and Health Matrix.
- Enhance the current curriculum and inspire our students by bringing visiting lecturers, scholars and other distinguished guests to campus.
How to make a difference. All gifts to the Annual Fund are important and have an immediate impact. You not only help today’s students, but you continue to build on our strong tradition. Our alumni – even those who paid full tuition – benefited from the generosity of prior graduates. With only 80% of a student's education covered by tuition, your support is vital to current and future students. Your gift shows appreciation to the school for the education you received, and it provides for the next generation of lawyers. Simply put, as an Annual Fund participant, you help us continue to grow as an incomparable place of higher learning.
Endowments
Establishing an endowment fund is a permanent, lasting way to remember a particular phase of your education that influenced your life while supporting our law school. Endowment funds are also meaningful ways to honor or memorialize family members and friends. These funds are donated assets held by the University in perpetuity and invested to generate income to be spent for the purpose(s) you designate.
You may establish an endowment fund in three ways:
- A gift while living
- A life income gift
- A gift in your will
The life income gift produces income for a beneficiary you designate over your lifetime or a term of years. At maturity, the life income gift is converted to a named endowment fund.
The value of the University's endowment funds is constantly changing as income is earned, additional gifts are made, the value of assets appreciate over time, and income is spent for donor-designated purposes.
The University's Board of Trustees is responsible for the investment of the University's endowment funds. Investment responsibilities include the development and implementation of investment strategies, the allocation of assets to these strategies, the selection of investment managers, and the monitoring of performance. Although the Trustees are firm believers of investment diversification to reduce risk, they favor investments in stocks, which have the greatest potential for long-term growth.
Other Giving Opportunities
Two additional giving opportunities are outlined below. Interested in even more? Learn about how to support the law school through naming opportunities, contributions to faculty scholarship and research, student scholarships, the law library or other programs.
The Law Firm Giving Challenge offers an opportunity for alumni at law firms to connect with the law school and promote giving in a spirited and challenging way. By participating, alumni help us raise essential funds and increase overall alumni giving participation, while strengthening our alumni network and enhancing the profile of the graduate’s own law firm. During the 2022-2023 fiscal year, 26 firms, led by volunteer alumni representatives, raised more than $490,000 in annual fund gifts.