The College announced during spring break that it is within $24 million of achieving the $500 million goal of the five-year Will to Excel capital campaign, which will end in October.
More than $6.2 million was pledged during February alone, bringing the total amount raised to 95 percent of the total goal, according to Director of Development Policies Jack DeGange.
DeGange said he hopes the College will have raised the entire $500 million by June 30, which is the end of fiscal year 1996. "It is reasonable to expect that the goal will be reached" by then, he said.
If the full $500 million is reached by June, the campaign's organizers will continue to pursue further gifts until the October deadline, DeGange said.
"The rallying cry is 'solicit and close,'" he said.
He said "means fund-raisers" will target donors who have already contributed, as well as potential donors who have not yet given.
DeGange said the campaign's goal will remain $500 million even if that sum is exceeded.
In the unlikely event that fund-raisers come up short, the deadline would not be extended. "The campaign has to end sometime," he said.
Organizers raised the goal to $500 million from $425 million in 1994. The $425 million figure was surpassed in 1995.
DeGange said the higher figure better addresses areas that would be insufficiently met by the goal of $425 million.
For example, the $50 million gift from the Berry family earmarked for construction of a new library counts toward the campaign's bottom line, but fails to cover many of the campaign's specific goals.
Most of the campaign's goals have been fully funded, such as those set by the Amos Tuck School of Business and Dartmouth Medical School.
Pledges towards Arts and Sciences, however, are lagging at about 70 percent of the initial goal.
