The Class of 2008 attained the highest level of participation for class giving in Dartmouth's recent history and in the Ivy League, as 92.5 percent contributed to the Senior Class Gift, according to the Office of Public Affairs.
Fifteen Greek organizations achieved a 100 percent participation rate.
"The 2008s made a splash in their final days before leaving the Green," College President James Wright said in a press release. "In this fund-raising effort they've been particularly vocal about their commitment to the next generation of Dartmouth students."
The Senior Class Gift is a donation to The Dartmouth College Fund, which helps to support programs not fully funded by tuition or the endowment, according to the DCF web site. This year's campaign largely focused on raising money for financial aid and will fund 15 student scholarships. The class raised $15,978, the largest cash gift in recent history. The class also earned $92,000 from the Wall Street Forum, a group of alumni who pledged to contribute $1,000 for every percentage of the class who gave, senior class gift intern Tom Healy '08 said in an e-mail. Last year's drive featured a similar promise by Brad Evans '64 and Peter Fahey '68.
This year's drive aimed to achieve an 85 percent participation rate, based on last year's rate of 80 percent, Healy said. The drive's focus on encouraging people to make any contribution, rather than on the size of the contribution made, was a large factor in its success, according to senior class intern Whitney Norton '08.
"Our goal was very participation-based," Norton said. "That was huge for us -- to get the whole class involved in something."
The drive, which lasted from May 1 to May 31, followed a similar format to last year's, Norton said. The effort relied largely on 35 volunteers, each of whom was responsible for contacting 30 students. The volunteers' diversity of interests also contributed to the high percentage of the class who gave, Norton said.
Dartmouth's solicitation process is different than many of the College's peer institutions' efforts. Dartmouth's main drive lasts only a month, while other schools usually have year-long drives, Healy said. Unlike Dartmouth, many other schools also accept pledges of future donations.
