As of Thursday, the Class of 1996 had pledged to give the College $108,722 over the next four years, thousands more than the Class of 1995 pledged.
More than half the class, 526 seniors, made pledges to Dartmouth, Associate Director of the Alumni Fund Joe Whitworth said.
"That is the best ever," he said.
This year's gift "shatters the '95s' record year last year of 525 [donors] for $102, 614," Whitworth wrote in an e-mail message.
This "gives the '96 [fundraising] agents a great head start toward record-setting efforts in the next five years," he wrote.
The money raised is used to pay for professors' salaries, financial aid and other general College expenses.
Whitworth said part of the reason fundraising was so successful was because of a strong core group of volunteers.
Whitworth said each of the four Alumni Fund interns deputized 10 seniors to solicit money.
Each of these 40 seniors chose up to 10 agents to help contact seniors.
This year's interns, Lauren Currie '96, Charles French '96, Jason Fanuele '96 and Sarah McAlister '96, planned a student telethon in January and organized the spring fundraising drive.
McAlister said even though "some people are not willing to give," it is often possible to get seniors to change their minds.
Whitworth said there is no typical donation.
"We have some people giving $10 a year," he said. Others have pledged $1,500 over the next four years.
This year there were many "leadership donors" in the senior class, said Adam Medros '96, who will be a head fundraising agent once his class becomes alumni.
A leadership donor is a senior who pledges to give the College $1,769 over the next 10 years.
Because so many seniors pledged money, it seems the Class of 1996 will be strong donors in the future, Whitworth said. "They're going to be a good class," he said.
Whitworth said fundraising is important to Dartmouth's success in its mission and even in its ranking in U.S. News and World Report magazine.
"Our participation in Alumni Fund support is tied to our rank," he said.
"It is important once we're out of the school to make sure that the school is still up there" in the ranking, Whitworth said.
Medros and Currie will be the head agents for next year's fundraising efforts with the class of 1996, Whitworth said.
