Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release
June 13, 2000

Lawrence University Awarded National Honor for Fund-Raising Excellence 


     APPLETON, WIS. -- Broadway has its Tonys, television its Emmys and
Hollywood its Oscars.  For institutions of higher education, there are
the CASE Awards.
     Lawrence University has been named a recipient of a 2000 Circle of
Excellence Educational Fund-Raising Award by the Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C. Considered the
most distinguished honor in the development profession, the CASE Circle
of Excellence award recognizes exceptional fund-raising programs through
a comprehensive analysis of fund-raising data. 
     Lawrence was one of only six private liberal arts institutions in
the country cited in CASE's "Superior Overall Performance" category.
CASE reviews each aspect of a development program to identify not only
an upward trajectory in gift income, but the breadth of philanthropic
support and the strength of each component of a college's advancement
effort.  Joining Lawrence among the liberal arts institutional winners
were Amherst College, Middlebury College, Oberlin College, Smith College
and Wellesley College.
     "The CASE award is a great honor for Lawrence and not just our
development program," said Gregory Volk, vice president for development
and external affairs.  "Lawrence is obviously in good company with this
year's recipients and we are thrilled with this national recognition of
our efforts.  Our success on the fund-raising front is important not for
its own sake, but for the extraordinary impact of philanthropy in making
Lawrence a great and exciting place."
     Gift income to the college has set new records in each of the past
three years and giving from private sources has more than tripled in the
past eight years, growing from $5.9 million in 1992 to more than $20
million in fiscal 2000.  Lawrence's alumni donor participation rate of
just over 50 percent ranks it well within the top tier of alumni giving
for all colleges and universities in the country.  
     At the same time, Lawrence also boasts an exceptionally low
cost-per-dollar-raised ratio.  For fiscal year 1999, Lawrence spent just
six cents per gift dollar, compared to national averages of four-year
institutions of 18 cents per dollar raised.
     CASE, with more than 2,900 members, is the largest international
association of educational institutions in the world.  It has annually
recognized exceptional development programs in education since 1959 and
this year marks the eighth time it has presented awards for outstanding
fund-raising performance.  Lawrence administrators will be formally
recognized July 14 at CASE's International Assembly in Toronto.