New Records for the Fund
ALL ALONG THE LINE
Strong gains both in amount and in number o£ contributors made the 1953 Alumni Fund a record-breaking achievement in Dartmouth's already remarkable program of annual alumni giving.
The final tally was $671,147.15 from 17,375 contributors. This was an increase of $59,616 and 1,229 givers over the 1952 record, and was far beyond the goal of $600,000 set by the Alumni Council for this year's campaign.
As strong as the showing was in money raised, the more exciting result in the eyes of Fund leaders was the new participation mark of 66.6% of all Dartmouth alumni as contributors. Dartmouth's record in this respect has long been the foremost in the country, but for the past few years participation has been stationary at 65%. The 1953 advance therefore represents a cracking of the 65% "sound barrier" and is especially pleasing to the Alumni Fund Committee which is trying constantly to broaden the base of alumni participation.
The overall average gift this year increased from $37.88 to $38.63. The alumni average jumped from $34.48 to $35.35, the best ever. Other records were established in the number of classes reaching their objective and in the number exceeding previous dollar totals.
The thanks of the College were expressed by President Dickey in a July communication to all those who worked to make the superlative 1953 results possible. "Your part in this achievement," he wrote, "is valued for what it is as well as for what it produces in dollars for Dartmouth.
"You need no further description from me of what has been done for Dartmouth through your efforts and the generosity of some seventeen thousand men and women who care about this College and its cause the liberating arts.
"I do want to record here this word of appreciative awareness of the unspoken Dartmouth sacrifices and services in your daily life ... the abiding concern to make each of us more appreciative of the joys and worth of this fellowship and, above all else, more understanding of the well-springs of Dartmouth purpose and principle which it is our privilege to keep freshened."
The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, at its meeting July 27, passed a resolution of thanks "to the many donors, including alumni of the College, parents of students, and friends of the College," whose loyal and generous support made the 1953 Alumni Fund so successful. Appreciation was officially expressed also to the Fund workers, and particularly to Kenneth M. Henderson '16, chairman of the 1953 Alumni Fund; William H. Coulson, chairman of the Dartmouth Parents Committee; and Nichol M. Sandoe Jr. '45, executive secretary of the Fund.
In accordance with the recommendation of the Alumni Council, the Trustees voted to apply $70,000 of the 1935 Fund to scholarships. The sum of $40,000 was added to the Alumni Fund Scholarship Reserve, set up two years ago and now totaling over $200,000, and $30,000 was used to endow a second Alumni Fund Scholarship. The remainder of the Fund was applied to the operating costs of the College for 1952-53 and again enabled the College to avoid a large deficit.
ON the dollar side, not only was the $600,000 total objective substantially exceeded, but the alumni goal of $550,000 also was surpassed with contributions of $587,043. Of great importance in the over-all picture was the $46,279 received from 771 families of undergraduates and recent alumni. The Parents Committee was active in the Fund campaign for the third consecutive year and produced the best results yet recorded for this portion of the Dartmouth family. To the amounts raised by the alumni and parents was added $37,825 from Memorial Fund income. The gain made in each o£ these three divisions is shown by the following comparison:
1952 1953 Alumni Gifts $534,591,$ 587,043 Parents Girts 44,120 46,279 Memorial Fund Income 32,820 37,825
$511,531 $671,147
Among the classes, dollar records fell right and left. Twenty-six classes, a record number, exceeded $10,000. Two of these classes broke the record for dollar total 1925 (Milton K. Emerson) with $22,688 and 1923 (Leon H. Young Jr.) with $22,190. Thirty-five classes reached 100% of dollar objective, and 39 raised more money than ever before, as compared with 31 last year.
The 35 classes meeting or exceeding their dollar goals were led by 1894 (Kent Knowlton) with 223%. Others near the top of the list were 1903 (Morton B. French), 162%; 1915 (Marvin L. Frederick), 153%; 1901 (Richard Ward), 151%; 1904 (Charles I. Lampee), 143%; 1921 (Roger C. Wilde), 134%; 1914 (Ellsworth B. Buck), 127%; and 1951 (David H. Hilton), 126%.
On the participation side, the total gain of 1,229 contributors resulted from 989 more alumni gifts, 127 more parent gifts, and 113 more memorial and other gifts. The Class of 1952 accounted for 430 of the added alumni contributions; and through the special efforts of the class agents, gifts were received from about 400 alumni who had not given at all for five or more years. Following is the comparative participation record for 1952 and 1953:
1952 1953 Alumni Gifts 14,871 15,860 Parent Gifts 644 771 Memorial and Other 631 744
As it always does, credit for the record-breaking Alumni Fund results belongs to the class agents who carried the main load of the campaign. Although almost all classes shared in the forward march of the Fund, the following class agents won special praise, for each one set a new record in both contributors and dollars: Ralph B. Clement '09, Edward B. Luitwieler '12, Ellsworth B. Buck '14, Alexander J. Jardine '16, Stanley J. Newcomer '20, Leon H. Young Jr. '23, Richard Jackson '33, Munroe S. Fitzherbert '36, Alan W. Bryant '37, Richard W. Lippman '42, Allen I. Bildner '47, Robert S. Russell '48, Vail K. Haak '49, Glenn L. Fitkin Jr. '50, and David H. Hilton '51.
