The College's aggressive fund-raising "Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience" may be long overdue. According to a recently published report from the Council for Aid to Education, Dartmouth received just over $116.5 million in voluntary donations last year, a sum surpassing only Brown University in the Ivy League.
The figure, however, marked a sizable jump from the $90 million the College collected in 2003. Nationally, voluntary gifts increased 3.4 percent over the last year, making Dartmouth's jump particularly impressive.
Still, 18 schools in the study's private research and doctoral institution category received more voluntary contributions than Dartmouth last year. Donations to Harvard University totaled more than four times what Dartmouth received.
Carolyn Pelzel, the College's vice president for development, explained that Dartmouth's numbers, which may seem counterintuitive for an institution that prides itself on loyal alumni, are the result of its small size.
"Our alumni body is the smallest in the Ivy League. When you look at contributions per alumnus, our numbers are generally among the highest, and when you look at our current campaign goal on a per student basis, this campaign is a more aggressive target for Dartmouth than for other institutions that have recently concluded campaigns," Pelzel said.
The CAE study suggests a lack of alumni from which Dartmouth can draw donations -- not a lack of fiscal loyalty to the institution. Relative to schools in the study's private liberal arts category, Dartmouth's donations dwarf those of its peers.
The top recipient in the private liberal arts category, Wellesley College, received just over $54 million in voluntary donations, not even half of Dartmouth's total.
The CAE's report is a yearly study listing the total worth of voluntary gifts to various institutions of higher education. The report includes a national breakdown detailing whether the gifts are made on behalf of individuals, religious organizations, foundations or corporations.
The study found that significant portions of national gifts come from surprising sources. While alumni gifts make up only 27.5 percent of all donations, non-alumni individuals contribute almost as much, their gifts making up 21.3 percent of all contributions.
Gifts from corporations also make up a sizable chunk of the sum, comprising 18 percent of all giving. Adjusted for inflation, gifts from virtually every group decreased over the last year. But the 18.3 percent increase in individual non-alumni gifts more than made up for the drops in other categories.
Regardless of where the money comes from, Pelzel said Dartmouth hopes to receive more of it as the College's $1.3 billion capital campaign progresses.
