Report on Giving 2025
A Message from Dean Srikant Datar
With deep gratitude for your support, I am pleased to share with you this Report on Giving, which underscores how your generosity advances Harvard Business School’s mission. The work of HBS—and of higher education more broadly—matters now more than ever. Through research, teaching, and innovation, the School plays a vital role in improving the practice of management, educating leaders, and advancing knowledge that benefits individuals and organizations worldwide.
Guiding this work is the belief that business is a force for good. Graduates of HBS exemplify this commitment: They go on to found and lead companies that create jobs, develop valued products and services, and enhance communities and economies, shaping a better future.
In the following report, you will see how HBS is drawing on cutting-edge faculty research to innovate in the curriculum, support entrepreneurs, and strengthen the learning environment. These efforts create transformational educational experiences that prepare students for real-world impact.
As HBS navigates a period of unprecedented complexity and exciting opportunities, the support of alumni and friends like you is essential to our continued leadership in management education. Thank you.
Thank You
This report recognizes and celebrates alumni and friends who made gifts in fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025). Every gift makes a difference.
Fiscal Year Highlights
HBS Fund Gifts in Action
Annual gifts to the HBS Fund provide flexible funding that can be used immediately to advance key priorities, pilot novel programs and activities, and launch new initiatives. The following are examples of recent efforts made possible by the HBS Fund.
HBS Equips Students for an AI-Driven World
Generative AI is poised to redefine how businesses operate and deliver value. To prepare students for leadership in this dynamic environment, HBS draws on faculty research—particularly insights from the Harvard Business School AI Institute—to develop innovative, AI-focused courses. These are designed to help students understand both how AI works and how it can be leveraged to enhance different aspects of organizational performance. In the first-year Required Curriculum, the course Data Science & AI for Leaders provides a foundation in AI concepts and hands-on experience in AI-powered tools. In the second year, electives like Generative AI for Business Leaders offer active learning that connects AI theory to real-world business challenges, equipping students with the skills and perspectives to navigate evolving organizational landscapes.
Fellowships Make Dreams Possible
Financial aid at HBS ensures that the most talented students can attend the School, regardless of their financial means. Thanks to donor support, nearly half of the MBA student body receives need-based fellowships, significantly reducing their debt burdens. This commitment to accessibility is further reflected in initiatives such as need-based application fee waivers, an aid formula that considers family and socioeconomic background, and full-tuition fellowships for the neediest students—nearly 10 percent of the class—as well as increased support for those from middle-income backgrounds. These investments do more than open doors. They bring a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives to the campus that enrich discussions inside and outside the classroom, deepening the learning experience for all. To see how fellowships have helped shape the journeys of eight students at HBS, watch the accompanying video, HBS Fellowships: Making Dreams a Reality.
Students and Faculty Engage in Dialogue Across Differences
Open inquiry and constructive dialogue are hallmarks of the case method. HBS invests at the start of each year in helping students and faculty members contribute to and benefit from a strong learning environment, beginning when students first arrive on campus. Skill-building workshops on active listening and managing difficult conversations are included in student orientation and throughout the first year. The MBA Program also has adopted the Chatham House Rule of non-attribution of comments, enabling students to feel more confident when voicing diverse or dissenting viewpoints. Additionally, faculty members participate in workshops focused on facilitating dialogue across differences and navigating challenging discussions. As Professor Mitch Weiss, MBA Required Curriculum chair, explains: “Sharing our views, and testing them with each other in a culture of mutual respect and candor, is how we learn at HBS.”
Donor Support Fuels Faculty Excellence at HBS
Thanks to donor support, the School is able to attract, develop, and retain a world-class faculty, which is critical to its leadership in business education and its impact on organizations, industries, and economies worldwide. Each year, HBS welcomes new faculty members from a wide range of disciplines who shape the education of MBA students and course participants and carry out pioneering research. Among them are assistant professors, who comprise a quarter of the faculty, as they establish themselves as educators and researchers. To prepare these and all faculty members to excel in case-method teaching, the C. Roland Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning offers individualized coaching, class observations, detailed feedback, and rich resources on planning, delivery, and participant-centered learning. Additionally, faculty members can test out course content with a classroom of volunteers—alumni, staff, and other community members—through the Section Zero program.
Global Immersions Encourage Learning in the Field
The HBS Fund and other unrestricted revenue provide 93 percent of the MBA Program budget and enable transformational educational opportunities that deepen student learning, such as the School’s global programs. Students gain hands-on exposure to business challenges and opportunities worldwide through the first-year FIELD Global Capstone, a learning-in-the-field complement to the case method, and the second-year elective Immersive Field Courses (IFC). One such IFC took 40 students to India to delve into sustainability and decarbonization in this rapidly developing country. They explored the balance between the urgent need to cut emissions and the goals of driving economic growth and improving livelihoods.
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Drives Innovation
HBS has established a dynamic ecosystem of support for students interested in developing their own startups that builds on the School’s legacy of entrepreneurial impact. Across all HBS graduates, 50 percent have created at least one venture in their careers. Furthermore, a recent PitchBook survey shows that between 2014 and 2024, some 1,900 HBS students not only founded companies, but also received funding from venture capitalists—far more than at any other business school. Students at HBS can choose from more than 35 entrepreneurship electives, which are informed by research conducted by 40+ faculty members in the School’s Entrepreneurial Management unit. In addition, HBS offers a variety of resources to support the entrepreneurial journeys of both students and alumni. These include the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the Harvard Innovation Labs, and HBS Foundry, a new digital learning platform that draws on AI to enable early-stage founders to acquire essential skills and to progress their ventures.
HBS Fund Highlights
- $55MTotal HBS Fund gifts & pledges, including 13 gifts over $1M
- $54.7MReceived in cash for the HBS Fund, a record for the School
- 90%Approximate portion of HBS Fund cash provided by HBS Fund Investors Society members. View the member list (login required).
- 69%Average portion of the School’s research budget that is supported by the HBS Fund and other unrestricted revenue
Celebrating Volunteer Impact
HBS is deeply grateful to the hundreds of fundraising volunteers whose time, effort, and expertise help secure the resources that sustain the School’s mission and extend its impact.
