Features

Campaign Update

The Vassar 150: World Changing campaign has come a long way since its quiet phase began in fiscal year 2006. The great majority of support has come from alumnae and alumni of the college, but parents, friends, and foundations have also stepped up to provide critically needed dollars. Here are some facts about the campaign that may surprise you.

Campaign priorities: gifts to date — 12% ($40,938,990) Science for the 21st century - 19% ($64,623,694) Vassar's Annual Fund - 26% ($90,455,365) General campaign giving - 43% ($146,830,783) Access to excellence

Since the campaign began, nearly $147 million has been directed to Access to Excellence, a category that includes the vital priority of financial aid as well as support for the Vassar Libraries and for the renovation of Swift Hall.

Another $90 million has come in the form of general campaign giving, the vast majority through planned gifts. And almost $41 million has been donated for the creation of an Integrated Science Center at Vassar.

At more than $64 million, donations to Vassar’s Annual Fund represent the biggest single gift to the campaign and the cumulative power of many thousands of donors, regardless of the size of each individual gift.

The Vassar 150: World Changing campaign ends June 30, 2013. We still have a way to go, but we’re confident Vassar will reach its goals with your help.

Campaign Giving by Decade

Campaign giving by decade

1950s: Leading the Way

While alumnae/i from every decade have contributed generously to the campaign to date, several stories emerge from the figures so far. Alumnae who graduated during the 1950s have contributed more than from any other decade – more than $102 million! Almost exactly half of these dollars have come in the form of bequest intentions, underscoring the importance of planned giving as part of the Vassar 150: World Changing campaign.

1970s: Picking up the Torch

Alumnae/i from the decade of the 1970s, representing the college’s first coed classes, have contributed more dollars (absent bequest intentions, which can only be credited for donors 69½ and over) to the Vassar 150: World Changing campaign than any other decade— nearly $62 million.

2000 and Beyond: Ensuring the Future

Younger alums tend to contribute less than older alums because they have fewer resources. But Vassar’s millennial classes—those who have graduated from 2000 on—are bucking the trend. They’ve contributed more than $950,000 to date, with a very encouraging record of participation, and virtual parity in giving between women and men.