With less than a year to go in its five-year Will to Excel capital campaign, Dartmouth needs to raise only $60 million to reach its goal of $500 million by June 30, 1996.
As of Aug. 31, the campaign had raised 87.4 percent of its goal in 86.1 percent of the time, according to Stan Colla, vice president of development and alumni relations.
"We still have around $60 million to go before we hit our goal of $500 million," Director of Development Publications Jack DeGange said yesterday. "However, the key to the campaign is that we've got to go beyond our goal to realize all of our original objectives."
The College originally intended for the campaign to raise only $425 million, but the College increased its goal to $500 million in October 1994, when it realized fundraising efforts would soon exceed the original target. The campaign represents the largest fundraising effort in the College's 226-year history.
College officials said they will now focus on the campaign's main goal, raising another $35.7 million for Dartmouth's endowment. As of Aug. 31, the campaign had raised 81.5 percent of the $192.5 million for the endowment.
Despite the campaign's overall success, the endowment portion -- which is used to fund professors' salaries and the curriculum expansion associated with the new degree requirements -- has lagged behind the other divisions of the campaign.
In addition to the endowment portion, the Will to Excel campaign also raises money for the current use and facilities divisions of the College. The campaign must raise another $41.4 million to reach its target of $113.9 million for facilities.
Included in that amount is $15 million for a new psychology building, which will stand where the newly razed Mary Hitchcock Medical Center once stood. The College's Board of Trustees recently approved a measure to finance the construction from reserve funds, removing the burden of subsidizing the project from the campaign, DeGange said.
DeGange said the campaign may go beyond the $500-million goal because certain areas have exceeded their financial goals and the campaign will not stop until all areas have met their minimum goals.
The campaign is slated to end with the College's fiscal year in June 1996, but DeGange said the College is considering extending the deadline to October 1996. He said the College will finalize the deadline within the next few weeks.
DeGange said the College would extend the deadline to make sure all of the campaign's goals are met.
The College's three professional schools have already surpassed their original goals, according to the campaign's annual report.
The Tuck Tomorrow Campaign exceeded its original goal of $29 million by $9 million. The capital campaign for theThayer School of Engineering garnered $15.1 million. The Dartmouth Medical School raised $76.3 million.
DeGange, who helps oversee the campaign, said the staff is working to solicit donors who they feel will give support or resoliciting donors who might contribute a second gift.
