The Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience, a projected seven-year-long comprehensive capital campaign, has reached the halfway point of its $1.3 billion goal, having raised $744.2 million to date.
The goals of the Campaign are to "strengthen Dartmouth across academic disciplines, make critically needed improvements in residential and campus life, and preserve Dartmouth's preeminence in providing the finest student experience in the world," according to Campaign publications.
The capital campaign is divided into four strategic imperatives aimed at revamping the college: academic enterprise, residential and campus life, financial aid and annual giving.
According to Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience co-chair Brad Evans '98 and Vice President of Development Carolyn Pelzel, the campaign is on track and has reached the point where it hoped it would be at this time.
"I think we're right on track right where we expected and hoped to be at this stage of the campaign. We've accomplished a lot," Evans said, noting that to complete the Campaign on schedule means raising $14 million per month.
"To be able to dedicate eight new dormitories and have them completed during the life of a campaign is quite an accomplishment. They often don't get built until the campaign is over," he said.
Pelzel expressed satisfaction about the recent spike in alumni participation in the Dartmouth College Fund, which stands at 51 percent.
"We have found that the Dartmouth constituency is very responsive to the College's needs and aspirations, not only in terms of total dollars [but in terms of participation]," she said.
The campaign was publicly launched in November 2002, after a two-year "quiet phase" that raised $435 million. Campaign leaders expect that the full amount will be raised by 2009.
Pelzel pointed to two recent Dartmouth College Fund "challenges" as evidence of the Campaign's success. The April Challenge, which involved an aggressive mail and telephone campaign, brought in 6,000 donors, 2,000 more than the program aimed for. The Fund also challenged the Class of 2006 to donate, and witnessed a 73 percent participation rate.
Although the Campaign is going as planned, Pelzel acknowledges that there are still more goals to accomplish.
"The key challenge with the second half of the campaign is that we need to reach out to many more people, to people who haven't been as involved in Dartmouth," she said. "We have to communicate more, travel more...Our biggest challenge is taking the Dartmouth experience on the road and showing people why Dartmouth is something they should invest in."
While the Office of Development is grateful for the major gifts that many alumni have given, it has its eyes set on a more ambitious goal: to receive a single gift of or exceeding $100 million.
"Dartmouth still has not yet received a nine-figure gift, and all of our other Ivy League peers have," Pelzel said. "One of the challenges we have is really to raise larger gifts, and we're working on that."
Pelzel also noted the importance of College President James Wright's involvement in the capital campaign.
"People who want to make a significant gift to Dartmouth, whether it's $5,000 or $5 million, want to talk to the president about where the institution is going. President Wright fortunately understands that and gives generously of his time."
Another area of focus for the campaign is ensuring accountability to donors by showing them how their money is being spent. Pelzel said that earlier this week, donors who toured the new David T. McLaughlin Cluster and Tuck Mall Residence Halls expressed that their favorite part of the day was seeing the students' excitement about their new residences.
Over half of the total $1.3 billion dollar goal -- $711 million -- will be allocated towards academic enterprise, which includes faculty, facilities and equipment for the College and graduate programs. The Campaign also includes a $185 million goal for Residential and Campus Life, a $166 million allocation for financial aid and $244 million for annual giving, which encompasses the Dartmouth College Fund.
