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RALEIGH – UNC System schools, already hit hard by the state's budget crisis, are relying even more on private gifts.

The same is true for private schools, which have seen endowments shrink along with the stock market.

UNC Charlotte Vice Chancellor Niles Sorensen said 49ers have been hit hard by the recession.

"About half of our alums are under the age of 35, so my sense is that age group has probably been impacted by the recession more than other age groups," Sorensen said. "Those people who are still in a position to make a gift are still very generous."

Vice Chancellor Mary Gornto has a similar story at UNC Wilmington.

"Even before the current economic downturn, nationally, alumni giving participation rates were declining," said Gornto. "The amount that alumni were giving was increasing, but it was coming from a smaller percentage. We were bucking that trend."

She said gifts from faculty and staff have picked up, keeping the school closer to breaking even.

"We'd rather be going in the other direction," Gornto said.

Of the more than a dozen schools News 14 Carolina sampled, Davidson College, East Carolina, Guilford College and UNC Charlotte all projected donations to hold steady or increase this year.

Along with UNCW, Elon University, Meredith College and N.C. State all projected less giving. N.C. State actually had the lowest projection. Officials in Raleigh expect donations to be down about 23 percent from one year ago.

New NCSU Chancellor Jim Woodward blames the controversy surrounding the school's hiring and firing of former first lady Mary Easley and the embarrassment it caused campus leadership.

"What we do see is short-term giving, annual giving. There's been some short-term impact there," said Woodward. "As you would expect, people lose confidence and trust."

Woodward expects donations to rise as both N.C. State and the economy rebound from troubled times.