The College's Board of Trustees voted at the end of last term to extend the Will to Excel fundraising effort, which was scheduled to end this June, into October to raise as much money for Dartmouth as possible.
But the deadline for the College to make the $500 million mark will remain June 30, Director of Development Policies Jack DeGange said.
The capital campaign will reach its goal of raising $500 million by June 30, DeGange said.
With just six months remaining until its deadline, the campaign has raised more than $461 million, or 92 percent of the $500 million goal, in 91.7 percent of the time, DeGange said.
Although the campaign is still slightly ahead of schedule, the margin between achievement and elapsed time has closed since last February, when the sum exceeded the time 79 percent to 76 percent.
The focus of the fundraising drive's last leg will be soliciting donations for the Arts and Sciences campaign and for the Dartmouth Athletic Endowment, which DeGange said were the only two areas that have not yet met their goals.
The College began the Will to Excel campaign five years ago to raise money for all aspects of life at Dartmouth from undergraduate education to athletics.
DeGange said the campaign is divided into five separate fundraising areas: the Amos Tuck School of Business, the Thayer School of Engineering, the Dartmouth Medical School, Arts and Sciences and College-wide needs.
The Arts and Sciences campaign has achieved only $163.3 million of its $238 million goal.
But DeGange said, its accomplishments should not be belittled. One of its subdivisions, an endowment for undergraduate financial aid, has raised $3 million more than its $40 million goal. The Arts and Sciences campaign is by far the largest area of Will to Excel's concentration, and its goal is the most ambitious, he said.
Fundraising efforts should not stop because pre-set goals have been reached, he said.
DeGange said Arts and Sciences gifts go to curriculum revisions and professors' salaries and are not the easiest for campaign workers to solicit from alumni.
"It is sometimes difficult to sell something as intangible as education at Dartmouth," DeGange said. "The business of matching donor interest with a particular and defined need at the College is tough to do."
Since most donors to the College earmark their gifts for the areas of Dartmouth they are most interested in supporting, DeGange and other fund-raisers must struggle to find donors for all of the College's needs, he said.
Professors' salaries and curriculum revision may be important needs, but, DeGange said, alumni often want to give money for aspects of Dartmouth they can vividly remember or for buildings they can come and see.
All of the graduate schools and the College-wide fundraising efforts have already surpassed their goals. Tuck has raised $11 million in excess of its $29 million goal. Thayer has raised $4 million more than its goal of $12.8 million. Dartmouth Medical School exceeded its goal of $62.5 million and raised $79.4 million. The College-wide fundraising effort has raised $5 million more than its $157.8 million goal.
DeGange cited three recent gifts as particularly notable. Murry Bowden '71, co-captain of the undefeated 1970 football team, donated a $100,000 "challenge" grant to the Dartmouth Athletic Endowment. Bowden challenged his teammates to match his gift.
Stephen Cheheyl '67, chairman of Bay Networks, donated $1.4 million worth of the sophisticated computer networking equipment his company manufactures. The equipment will help make the Dartmouth College Information System faster.
Cheheyl's gift put Special Gifts, a subdivision of the campaign devoted to soliciting large gifts, over the top of its $26 million goal.
Roger Malkin '52, Tuck '53, made a gift of securities to endow a scholarship fund that is among Dartmouth's largest.
