In recent years, financial donations have greatly increased due to the vision that Dr. Barry Corey and the President’s Administrative Council have expressed in the comprehensive fundraising campaign “A Soul of Conviction, a Voice of Courage,” established in 2012.

Biola had a 291 percent increase in donations from 2011 to 2014, collecting $24,491,580 last year, which makes the third highest amount of donor income among Council for Christian Colleges and Universities members.

While an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education attributes a nationwide increase in donations to colleges to the gains made in the stock market, Mark Miles, the senior director of development at Biola, explained that Biola has seen great increases due to the positive response of donors to the main goals of the campaign. These aims include improving student affordability, influencing the world of ideas, extending Biola’s global reach and providing facilities, both academic and athletic.

“Most of the techniques are really relational,” said Brian Shook, administrative director at Biola. “We want to bring potential donors to campus to be inspired by the spirit of this campus, to be inspired by the stories of our students and the impact that our students are being prepared to make as they graduate and go out into the world.”

Overall, 40 percent of donors are alumni, 40 percent are current and former parents and 20 percent from other donors. The average gift size for the Biola Fund is $485.