Dartmouth received $163.8 million in total philanthropic support in the 2013 fiscal year, which ended June 30, and set a record in annual giving through the Dartmouth College Fund and the annual funds at Dartmouth’s professional schools of business, engineering, and medicine.
(Photo by Joseph Mehling ’69)
The Dartmouth College Fund, which raised $51.9 million, includes annual, unrestricted gifts that directly sustain the undergraduate experience at Dartmouth—the academic core, independent research, athletics, outdoor programs, and foreign study. Fund gifts also contribute substantially to Dartmouth’s financial aid budget, which helps support more than half of all undergraduates, including nearly 500 who are the first in the families to attend college.
The 2013 total, made up of annual fund gifts from alumni, parents, and friends of the College and Dartmouth’s three professional schools, as well as restricted gifts to the endowment, surpasses the five-year average of $155.4 million. Annual gifts and endowment income underwrite approximately 35 percent of the overall operating budget.
“When I see so many alumni, parents, and friends invest in the college they love—and especially in the students whose lives are being transformed every day by their philanthropy—I remember how my own life was changed by this place, and I’m profoundly grateful,” says President Phil Hanlon ’77, who will be inaugurated as Dartmouth’s 18th president on September 20. “It’s a privilege to take up the role of president amid such a generous vote of confidence for the institution, its students, and their future.”
Dartmouth’s annual fundraising set five institutional records:
- The Dartmouth College Fund raised $46.5 million in new gifts and, with the addition of annual gifts from endowed funds, achieved a new record total of $51.9 million. More than 26,000 alumni donors contributed to the Fund, representing a participation rate of 44.5 percent.
- The Dartmouth College Fund total includes an all-time high of $4.5 million in gifts through the Parents and Grandparents Fund. The previous record, set last year, was $3.7 million.
- The Thayer School of Engineering Annual Fund received a record $1.2 million in gifts from alumni, with 30.3 percent participation. The total bested last year’s $1.1 million.
- The Fund for the Geisel School of Medicine reached nearly $878,000, with 31 percent participation, beating the previous record of more than $736,000, set last year.
- Tuck School of Business Annual Giving continued its legacy of success with a record $6.3 million in gifts from 70 percent of alumni. Giving topped the $6 million mark for the first time, with an 8.7 percent increase over last year.
The classes of 1953, 1958, and 1978 also broke reunion gift total records for the Dartmouth College Fund in their 60th, 55th, and 35th reunion years, respectively. The Class of 1988 had the highest giving participation through the Fund, with 79.1 percent of class members contributing, followed closely by the Class of 1954, which had 78.6 percent participation.
“These inspiring results represent a passionate commitment to Dartmouth at every level of the greater Dartmouth community, including more than 2,000 volunteers who have worked tirelessly to achieve these fantastic results,” says Bob Lasher ’88, senior vice president for Advancement. “The Dartmouth College Fund, Geisel Annual Fund, and Tuck Annual Funds are all national leaders in alumni participation. To have these funds perform so highly speaks to the unique connection Dartmouth alumni have to their alma mater.”
