By Gregory A. Volk
Executive Vice President
Gift
income from private sources* totaled $7.62 million in fiscal 2005, a 45 percent
decrease from the previous year’s $13.9 million and the lowest one-year
total for gift income in more than a decade. Lawrence has had an extraordinarily
successful track record in fund raising for nearly a decade; each year, total
gift receipts
have been bolstered by one or more significant seven-figure outright gifts
or realized bequests. In fiscal 2004, for example, one $5.5 million pledge
payment
provided
40 percent of the $13.9 million total. In 2004-05, Lawrence did not receive
any seven-figure gifts, and realized bequests, which
have averaged more than $6 million annually in recent years, totaled only $533,583.
Uses of Funds Received
Of the $7.62 million total, $510,797 was received in gifts directed to the
physical plant, $2 million for the endowment, and $266,917 represents life-income
gifts. Gifts to The Lawrence Fund reached $3,431,181; $1,243,090 was secured
in restricted current gifts and $75,107 in other budget-relieving gifts, bringing
the total of expendable support to $4,749,378.
The Lawrence Fund
The single most important component of any development program is the annual
giving effort, which provides critical support for the operating budget and
also lays the foundation for all other fund raising, including major and planned
giving.
This past year, $3.43 million was secured in Lawrence Fund gifts, which not
only surpassed the $3.1 million goal but exceeded the previous year’s
results by 3 percent and set a new fund-raising record.
Founders Club membership (donors of $1,000 or more) grew by 7 percent, from
667 to 715, also a record.
Gifts to The Boynton Society for Björklunden operations totaled $264,000,
an increase of 26 percent and another record.
The average gift to The Lawrence Fund grew to $359 from $341 in 2003-04, yet
another record.
An important factor in those record-setting results was Lawrence’s Milestone
Reunion Giving program, established ten years ago, which added $412,587 in
gifts and $681,068 in multi-year pledges from alumni whose classes held reunions
in June 2005.
Alumni Donor Participation
Lawrence historically has had one of the best alumni donor participation rates
in higher education, a figure that is factored into national rankings such
as those of U.S. News & World Report, taken into consideration by corporations
and foundations in their grant-making decisions, and regarded with favor by
prospective students and their parents.
In 2004-05, 51.4 percent of Lawrence alumni made a gift to the college, up
from 51.2 percent the previous year — not an all-time record but the
best participation rate in more than a decade.
Two Milestone Reunion classes set participation records: 88.6 percent for the
Class of 1955 at its 50th reunion, a new record for reunion gifts overall,
and 40.9 percent for the Class of 1995, a record for a tenth-anniversary class.
Endowment Challenge
In 2001, Lawrence was awarded a $500,000 challenge grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities to endow the Freshman
Studies program. This grant
was contingent on the college raising $2 million in new gifts before July 31,
2005. Thanks to a generous gift of $250,000 from an anonymous donor, the challenge
was met ahead of schedule. As of June 30, the Nathan Marsh Pusey Freshman Studies
Endowment totaled $2.6 million and will help ensure that both the legacy of
Lawrence’s
tenth president and its signature academic program will be sustained and strengthened.
It is my privilege, on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the students, faculty,
and staff of Lawrence University to express our deep and sincere gratitude
for the generosity of the 7,261 Lawrence and Milwaukee-Downer alumni; 2,257
parents of current and former students; 3,614 other friends of the college;
and numerous corporations, foundations, and organizations who supported Lawrence’s
educational enterprise so well in 2004-05.
* Although the figures here presented are in compliance with standards adopted by CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) and NACUBO (National Association of College and University Business Officers), they differ from the presentation of gift income on the college’s financial statements. This report includes both gifts and payments on pledges received during 2004-05 but excludes new pledges received during the fiscal year. Financial-statement gift income, on the other hand, augments these numbers by the value of new pledges received during the year and reduces them by the value of payments made on pledges received in prior fiscal years.