Ideas generated at Columbia—in the classroom, library, laboratory, and field—drive impact in addressing many of the world's most urgent issues. Whether concerned about reforming mass incarceration, sequencing genomes to cure cancer, or educating the next generation of leaders, donors are giving not so much to Columbia as through Columbia.

With 16 leading undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools, as well as dozens of institutes, and one of the most diverse and international communities on any campus, Columbia has a breadth unique even among global research institutions. Philanthropic support can provide the investment needed to cross institutional boundaries and, more than ever, act as a University in full.

Columbians know how much we need partners: to work for the world, we need to work with the world. More than ever, Columbia builds global networks inside and outside of academia, in the public sector, in NGOs, and in the private sector. As one of our campaign co-chairs puts it, “There are seven billion people in this world, and the idea that you’re the only one thinking about anything is pretty arrogant. We’re talking big problems that need a lot of brain power."