Amherst raises $500 million in 5-year campaign

Amherst College, brushing past recession and topping initial goal, raises $500 million

Associated Press – 1 hour 10 minutes ago

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) -- Amherst College has surpassed its fundraising goal in a five-year campaign by nearly $80 million.

The fundraising drive raked in about $502 million. It began in October 2008 as the stock market plunged at the beginning of the worst recession in decades, causing the liberal arts college's endowment to lose about one-fourth of its value.

The priorities of the fundraising drive included maintaining the college's financial aid policies and fostering faculty-student research.
"The campaign was not only launched during a challenging time, but it succeeded during the worst downturn since the Great Depression," President Biddy Martin said.
Anonymous donations of more than $138 million included separate gifts of $100 million and $25 million, Martin said. A high proportion of unrestricted gifts, about 47 percent of what was raised in total, also was noteworthy, she said.
Higher education philanthropy tends to emphasize restricted gifts, with donor involvement in directing how the gifts are to be used, such as naming buildings and programs for donors, Martin said.
"The difference here is that many of our alumni and donors are hewing to an older tradition, which is generosity without the recognition that many people seek," she said.
Chief Advancement Officer Megan Morey said the campaign allowed the college to broaden access to Amherst, enhance the curriculum and physical campus and foster greater engagement between the college and the community in western Massachusetts.
Amherst College has scheduled a weekend celebration on Sept. 20-21. The school has sent invitations to all 22,000 alumni in addition to students, their parents, faculty and staff.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/amherst-raises-500-million-5-145544505.html