Thayer School Report

PRESIDENT OF THAYER SOCIETY OFENGINEERS REPORTS SUCCESS INTHAYER GIFTS, CONTRIBUTORS

IT is NOT VERY OFTEN that an appeal for the Dartmouth College Alumni Fund does not stress the number of givers as being as important as, or more important than, the sum subscribed. And rightly so. It is a test of the acceptance of the Fund and a foundation for its future.

That applies also to the participation of Thayer Men in the Alumni Fund. The number continues to increase. In 1940 it was 373 which is nine per cent more than in 1939, and thirty-five per cent more than in 1936. There is much hope in these figures, occurring as they do at a period when the number of Thayer School men has not increased anywhere nearly in proportion. Confidently we expect that the figures will continue to increase.

Contributions have also taken an upward turn. The amount contributed was $6230.25, the largest of the three years of combined operation of the Funds. That, too, is encouraging. The figure surpassed that of 1939 by $322, and of 1938 by $166. It appears that the downward movement of last year was not a trend. Confidently we believe that the trend is upward and that it will continue upward.

Still, there is much to be done. We are below the 1936 total of $6654 and a long way from the 1937 total of $7014. These figures, the last of separate operation of the Funds, are our first objective: Thayer School men will meet them.

Of the total gifts received, $2,500 was allocated to the Thayer School.

Every Thayer Man has the privilege of stating how his contribution shall be divided between the Thayer School and the Alumni Fund. If he specifies no division, forty per cent of his gift is assigned to Thayer School according to the plan of combination of the two Funds. In 1940 sixteen men specified how their gift was to be divided, against eleven in 1939. Many of these men specify more than forty per cent to Thayer School; some specify less; most continue the ratios from the years of separate Funds.

The question still remains: What if anything can stimulate the flow of contributions from the Thayer man under the combined plan in the same way that it could be stimulated under the separate plan? Under the combined plan it is proper to remind him that he has the privilege of dividing his contribution any way that he cares to, and to urge him to make his gift as large as possible, but that is all. The forty per cent division is fair, even liberal, to the Thayer School. Under the plan we can hardly urge last minute donations for the Thayer School as was done under the separate Fletcher Fund. Perhaps it would do little good if we could. The passing of a half dozen men who could be depended upon for $lOO, $2OO, or $3OO has made a difference—a difference that can be made up as each Thayer Man assumes his share of the burden and carries on. There is much to encourage him in the report of the 1940 Alumni Fund. He can be depended upon to do his best.