College Fundraising in Tough Economic Times

Fundraising in Tough Times

When times are tough, get back to basics. Go to the core of your mission and how you will improve society and impact the lives of people.

A recent article in The New York Times highlighted Amherst College in Massachusetts with the interesting title “Alma Mater Is Asking. Do You Give or Not Give?” Author Ron Lieber noted that Amherst has an endowment of $1 billion-plus and is engaged in a capital campaign. The endowment lost 25% of its value since last June but is still robust compared to most colleges and universities.

Chair of the campaign Brian Conway, notes that their mission is to “develop the leaders of tomorrow.”

Anthony Marx, president of Amherst, stated: “We try to be clear about why this is a social investment with a significant multiplying effect, though it takes a generation to see that effect.”
The campaign is emphasizing financial aid so Amherst can continue its tradition of admitting students regardless of their ability to pay tuition, fees, books, room, and board.

Article author Ron Lieber noted that this kind of fundraising story should be even more appealing for colleges that don’t have a huge endowment although it would require letting donors designate where their gifts are going.

Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org was quoted about how his organization let’s donors pick projects within schools: “contributors can pick options like giving drums to a class in New York City or construction paper to students in an art class in Northern California.” Mr. Best noted that a few colleges had looked into this type of fundraising program but he wasn’t aware any had started to use it yet.

James Langley, vice president for advancement, Georgetown University noted: “Schools need to start acting like a cause and stop acting like an institution.”





Post Script: While this story is about another college, why use the Northwestern University logo for the image? That's where I went to graduate school for 4 years so I'm attached to the place. To check out their giving website click here.

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