MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—Middlebury alumni have demonstrated an unprecedented level of support in the strength, vision, leadership, and direction of the College by attaining the 60 percent mark in participation in the 2007-08 Annual Fund.
The goal for the Annual Fund just concluded on June 30 was to reach 59 percent, to meet the Alumni Participation Challenge posed by an anonymous donor. When all the gifts were counted, a record 14,136 undergraduate alumni of the College, or slightly more than 60 percent, had donated to the Annual Fund.
“The result is testimony to the loyalty of our alumni, the strength of our institutional momentum, and the goals established in our strategic plan,” said Frederick M. Fritz ’68, chairman of the board of trustees. “Reaching 60 percent reflects the genuine hard work and commitment of our College Advancement team plus those hundreds of alumni volunteers who assisted in the success, especially since it was accomplished during difficult economic times and amid skittish financial markets.”
In 2003-04 participation in the Annual Fund was at 50 percent when an anonymous supporter of the College issued this challenge: if the alumni giving rate would increase each year for the following five years, the donor would give the College an additional $1 million per year for five years.
In the first three years of the Alumni Participation Challenge, participation grew to 56 percent in 2004-05, 57 percent in 2005-06, and 58 percent in 2006-07. In the year just ended alumni met the challenge again, so the goal for 2008-09—the final year of the five-year challenge—will be to reach 61 percent. To date, alumni have earned an additional $4 million for the College via the challenge.
President Ronald D. Liebowitz wrote to the entire College Advancement staff on July 2 and said: “Congratulations and a big thank you for doing the improbable—reaching 60 percent participation. It’s a great display of what determination, hard work, and a sense of humor can do, especially when we consider the difficult economy we all face. It speaks to how our alumni view our current priorities, which focus first and foremost on people and programs.”
In his message, the president issued a special thank you to the Annual Fund staff, led by Director Susan Regier, who work 52 weeks a year to strengthen the relationship between the College and its alumni.
Middlebury College is in the midst of the Middlebury Initiative, a five-year effort launched in 2007 to raise $500 million to ensure greater access and opportunity for students, support the learning environment and intensify student-faculty collaboration, enhance residential and co-curricular programs and infrastructure, and increase the College’s ability to respond to changing circumstances and new opportunities.
All gifts to the Annual Fund count toward the goals of the Middlebury Initiative.