Report of 23rd Alumni Fund Campaign

A STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED AND NOTABLEACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THE 193 J DRIVE

THE LOYALTY OF Dartmouth men to their College is traditional. And nowhere is there such concrete and provable evidence of this loyalty as in the support given to the Alumni Fund.

From a small beginning with 536 con- tributors in 1915, the Fund progressed to the peak in 1926 and 1927 when the pro- portion of contributors to graduates of the College was 73%.

From 1929 through 1932 the business recession affected the Fund adversely, as might be expected. From 1933 on; there have been encouraging gains each year. These gains have carried on through the 1937 campaign.

In 1937 a new high in number of contributors was reached with 7,942. This represented an increase of 399 over 1936, with a percentage figure to living graduates of 72%, 1% below the top figure reached in 1926 and 1927.

The 1937 Fund realization was $106,- 847.16.

From the net receipts, after deducting expenses, $79,540.22 was applied to meet the deficit in the current operating expenses of the College, and $21,571-17 was applied to the Dartmouth Hall Reconstruction Account, to which the Fund had made contributions during the preceding two years.

During the 23 years of the Fund's existence the work has been carried on by class agents and their assistants. To this group the Alumni Fund Committee pays sincere tribute.

Many of these class agents have unselfishly assumed the class agent's responsibilities for many years. F. H. Leggett '9B, C. G. McDavitt 'OO and J. R. McLane 'O7 were appointed class agents in 1915 and have carried on since that time. Veterans of more than fifteen years standing are H. H. Piper '76, O. E. Hovey 'B5, E. W. Knight 'B7, Eleazar Cate 'BB and M. B. French 'O3. The group that has served more than a decade includes G. H. Fletcher '72, E. A. Jones '74, A. E. Watson 'B3, C. A. Hardy '9O, H. D. Lakeman '96, Nathaniel Leverone 'O6 and A. L. Lewis 'OB.

The accomplishments of the younger agents in the various classes have been significant. Faced with the problem of reaching large groups of men, they have organized their forces of sub-agents, and carried on effective campaigns with results which are a source of cumulative admiration on the part of the Alumni Fund Committee and of amazement on the part of those interested in alumni fund campaigns in other colleges.

In 1937 an objective of SIIO,OOO was determined upon and allocated to the various classes. Twenty-eight of the classes met or exceeded their objectives. Ten of the classes wound up with a percentage figure over 100% on the proportion of contributors to living graduates.

Particular mention should be made of Class Agent Clifford H. Smith and the Class of '79 which continued to top the list in distinguished accomplishment. Other outstanding performances were those of H. B. Gilmore and the Class of 'Ol, E. W. Knight and the Class of 'B7, W. F. Geiger and the Class of '92, F. H. Leggett and the Class of '9B, C. G. McDavitt and the Class of 'OO and R. E. Sexton and the Class of 'O4. To John Sterling and the Class of 1911 and John Burleigh and the Class of go the honors of first and second place in Fund realization. The Class of igaB with Osmun Skinner at the helm leads all other classes in number of contributors with 412.

During the campaign competitions were carried on in three groups of about a dozen contemporary classes each for the "Green Derby," based on the combined ranking of per Cent of contributors and per cent of objective. These criteria of all-round Alumni Fund achievement, the mythical "Green Derbies," were won by the Class of 1901 among the classes of 1898-1909, by the Class of 1921 among the classes of 1910- 1923, and the Class of 1926 among the classes 1923-1935. The successful agents were respectively Harry B. Gilmore 'Ol, Orton H. Hicks '2l and Albert E. M. Louer '26.

The Alumni Fund Committee is indebted to President Ernest Martin Hop. kins 'Ol for his encouragement and support; for his attendance at meetings of Class Agents; and for his contribution to "A Message From Two Presidents," one of the mailing pieces of the campaign. Likewise are we grateful to that great benefactor of the College, Edward Tuck '6a for his message to the alumni, also used as a mailing piece, and for the fact that the name of the man whose gifts to Dartmouth surpass those of any other person in the College's long history leads the list of almost 8,000 contributors to the 1937 Alumni Fund.

The Alumni Fund Committee of the Alumni Council: SIGURD S. LARMON 'l4, Chairman ALBERT I. DICKERSON '3O, Executive Secretary Louis E. LEVERONE 'O4 WILLIAM H. BEMIS 'lB EDWARD K. ROBINSON 'O4 FORD H. WHELDEN '25

Chairman, Alumni Fund Committee, 1937 and 1938