Erciyes University has received a large share of the total donations in Kayseri. The university has received TL 200 million in donations from such well-known families as Sabancı, Karamancı, Has, Bayraktar, Dedeman, Cıngıllıoğlu and Küçükçalık, whose names appear on the walls and in many corners of buildings at the university.
Businessman Ahmet Karamancı made the first donation to the university in 1984, building a health center. The Sabancı family then built a cultural center at the university in 1986. As more donations came in, 10 colleges, nine faculties and five hospitals were built within the campus in addition to social clubs, libraries and laboratories.
Kayseri, which is President Abdullah Gül's hometown, also saw the president opening some of the centers at the university such as the Gülser-Mustafa Gündoğdu Merkez Laboratory, the Şahinur Dedeman Bone Marrow Transfer Hospital and the Türkan-Tuncer Hasçalık Tourism and Hotel Management Vocational College.
Donors in Kayseri started a campaign in 2003 for “100 Percent Support for Education.” Through contributions from donors, 53 school, containing more than 900 classrooms, have been built. In 25 existing schools, donations enabled 265 more classrooms to be built. Donors funded the construction of one boarding school, two kindergartens, six sports complexes, one science and art center, one school for the mentally handicapped and one youth center in the city. These donations totaled TL 110 million while state investments in the city only amounted to about TL 79 million.
The field of health has also attracted support in Kayseri as 58 health institutions have been established in recent years through charitable donations. Donations have also been made to religious causes. In the last two years, seven donors spent TL 3 million building four mosques and setting up three Quran courses. Donors from Kayseri also contributed to international projects, helping to build a mosque in Gorazde in Bosnia and Herzegovina costing about 1 million euros. Most donors prefer to support educational and health institutions while others donate cash to public institutions to contribute to the development of Kayseri.
