Philanthropic Support for RISD Reaches $14.3 Million in March

With more than three months to go until June 30, the end of RISD’s fiscal year, a broad community of generous supporters including individual donors, corporate partners and foundations has contributed $14.3 million to support the educational mission of the college and museum. 

“These gifts are investments in leaders, problem-solvers and artists who can touch our humanity and make us feel more resilient,” says Amanda Clark MacMullan, RISD’s vice president of Institutional Advancement. “A RISD graduate looks at the present and says ‘How can we make this better for the future?’ That is what the world needs, and that is why we see so many generous individuals and organizations coalescing around our mission and supporting it.”

Five major gifts, including a $4 million gift to the RISD endowment by Trustee Hillary Blumberg 92 FAV and Alex Ginsburg, will touch every aspect of life at the college and museum. The endowment is a permanently invested asset that grows over time and provides a steady source of funding through the income it makes available annually. 

Additional endowed gifts will significantly impact student access and experience: Gerald Fandetti BArch 68/P 05 and Charlotte Forsythe 67 PT/P 05 gave $1 million for scholarships for first-year Experimental and Foundation Studies students with financial need, and Suzanne and Fabian Fondriest P 16, a trustee, gave a $1 million gift in support of scholarships and the Life After RISD initiative, which prepares students for post-graduation success. An anonymous $2 million gift invests in the instructional strength of Industrial Design, enhancing the department’s ability to cultivate students who can work expertly with a wide range of materials and processes in the studio.

“The power of the endowment is not just future-focused. It provides income we can use each year to benefit all students,” MacMullan says. “These gifts make RISD far more egalitarian. They strengthen the academic program and hold the rise of tuition, creating both intergenerational equity and an immediate positive impact while supporting the whole student journey, from acceptance to life after graduation.” 

At the RISD Museum, a $2 million gift from Stephen and Ewa Metcalf established the Frank Robinson Curatorship of Painting and Sculpture. The curatorship, named in honor of former RISD Museum Director Frank Robinson, is a permanent, endowed position. It strengthens the museum’s ability to create programming that welcomes the public and complements the educational mission of the college.  

In addition to these five lead gifts are gifts by more than 1,400 additional donors, including 97 RISD faculty and staff members. These donors have given to a wide variety of priorities, including $1.4 million to the RISD Fund and $285,000 to the Museum Annual Fund, two critical sources of unrestricted support that fuel RISD’s creative community.

“Unrestricted annual giving is purposeful, flexible funding that is for the immediate benefit of students and faculty,” MacMullan says. “To give in this way says, ‘I believe in you, I believe in RISD’s training, I can’t wait to see what you’ll do!’”

Many donors gave via the first-ever RISD Giving Day on March 19, 2025, unlocking two participation challenges, one from a generous trustee and another from an alum marking a milestone reunion. As of March 20, 301 donors raised over $158,000 for the college and museum.

In addition, RISD has received $749,000 in grants to date from 15 foundations and corporations, including $290,000 to expand the Teaching and Learning Lab from the Davis Educational Foundation. RISD also received  grants for scholarships, Project Open Door, the Nature Lab, sustainability measures and RISD Museum exhibitions and public programming.

Donors pledged an additional $1.6 million in bequest intentions, gifts that are directed to RISD via donors’ estates. MacMullan says the many forms giving takes show that the RISD community’s relationship with the college and museum is lifelong. With year-to-date fundraising surpassing the fiscal year 2024 total by more than 50 percent, the culture of philanthropy at RISD, she says, is vibrant and growing. 

To learn more about Institutional Advancement at RISD, or to give, visit RISD Giving.

Gillian Kiley / photos by Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH
March 27, 2025