Campaign Chair sets goals for the final months of the Now Is the Time Campaign
As the closing date of the Now Is the Time Campaign approaches, addressing important goals yet to be met is on the mind of Campaign Chair John Stanton '77.
We have made great progress, but as we near June 30 our focus is on meeting our goals for the three Campaign initiatives: $50 million for Access, $75 million for Academic Strength, and $25 million for Financial Strength. For the Campaign to be a full success, we must meet each of these fundraising goals.
Supporting Whitman as it strives to maintain and build on excellence is an ongoing endeavor, and this effort is about laying a stronger foundation for our future. Scholarships for students are at the heart of this Campaign and we are still almost $3.5 million away from our goal in that area.
-John Stanton
Stanton's call to action is about finishing strong on what we have started. We must make funding for scholarships and internships more permanent, and we must work to sustain the new level of financial support from annual giving. We need your continued and increased help in these final months.
-George Bridges
Ensuring Access through Scholarship Endowment
For many students, more than any other single factor, the availability of scholarships profoundly influences their decisions about which school to attend. In order to recruit, enroll, and retain talented, high-achieving, and diverse students, Whitman must add to its comprehensive financial aid program so that a Whitman education remains accessible to all who are offered admission.
Scholarships for students are at the heart of this Campaign and we are still almost $3.5 million away from our goal in that area.
The best way to ensure that we continue to make progress in scholarship and student aid is to further endow our program. During the course of the Campaign, alumni, parents, and friends have created 69 new scholarship endowments, many of which honor the legacy of Whitman families. Your gift of any amount to general scholarship endowment or your commitment of $50,000 or more to endow a new named scholarship endowment will help us meet the Campaign goal and fulfill our promise to future generations of Whitman students.
Endowing the Whitman Internship Program
In 2007, when the Now Is the Time Campaign began, Whitman provided approximately 35 summer internship grants to students. A grant stipend that allows students to seek experiences that are directly tied to their academic work and future ambitions is a life- and career-changing opportunity. Interest in this program has grown exponentially over the past seven years. This past summer, Whitman provided more than 140 summer internship grants at approximately $2,500 each.
Alumni, parents, and friends created the David Stevens Internship Endowment, which currently generates $50,000 per year to support the program, and the Parents Fund and several individuals have stepped up to provide current funds that fill the gap between endowment payout and the amount needed for 140 internships. Significant additional gifts to further endow the program and to create new internship endowments will be necessary to ensure this transformative opportunity continues for future students.
Sustaining Our Momentum in Annual Giving
Alumni, parents, and friends have long provided Whitman with generous and loyal support. One must only look to the class lists in the Annual Report of Gifts-where hundreds of "W"s recognize the loyalty award for 10 or more consecutive years of giving-to know that Whitman alumni are deeply committed to the College's success. During the Campaign, unrestricted dollars through Annual Giving have increased by nearly 25% from around $1.1 million per year to more than $1.4 million per year.
In the final months of the Campaign, this foundational support is extraordinarily important. We ask that each Whitman supporter will consider what they can do by June 30 to build and sustain excellence for the benefit of current and future students through the Now Is the Time Campaign. It all starts with Whitman supporters making a commitment to annual gifts. Your gifts are an investment in students and the Whitman education that uniquely prepares them for their futures.
