$44,180,240 and How It Grew

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, BEQUEST AND ESTATE PLANNING PROGRAM

TEN years ago, our initial compilation of the total known class giving to Dartmouth College by all the living classes from 1884 through 1952 showed a grand total of $13,809,250 in gifts of all kinds.

In the past decade this total has increased more than threefold and now, for the comparable classes of 1894 through 1962, stands at $44,180,240! Thus, in the last ten years alone, more than $30,000,000 has been added to the $13,809,250 that in 1953 was considered an outstanding record of generous and realistic giving.

The complete record of all known class giving that has now been brought up to date is broken down into categories of Alumni Fund, other gifts for current use, Capital Gifts Campaign, Memorial Funds, other gifts for endowment and plant, and total bequest giving.

This article is concerned, however, only with reporting on the twelve leading Dartmouth classes in three overall totals: total giving for current use, total giving for endowment and plant, and grand total giving. The decision to report on twelve classes rather than the top ten or top fifteen (as was done ten years ago) was made because there are now twelve classes that have passed the $1,000,000 mark in their total giving to the College. In 1954 no Dartmouth class had given over $855,265, and the range of the next eleven classes proceeded downward from $598,758 to $296,980. Now the top dozen classes all have $1,000,000 or more to their credit, with 1915 in first place with an impressive grand total of $5,233,074.

In comparison with the report of ten years ago, there are no extraordinary changes in the Current Use category. The Class of 1925 holds its first place, and 1926 and 1923 exchange second and third spots, with 1915 remaining as fourth. The larger classes of 1927, 1930, 1924, and 1929 move into the top twelve, and the smaller classes of 1907, 1911, 1913 and 1916 drop out. 1914, 1918 and 1921 remain in the charmed circle.

In the Endowment and Plant category, there are some outstanding changes. 1915 moves from seventh to first, 1930 and 1902 (neither of which was in the first fifteen in 1953) are now second and third. 1925 moves up from fourteenth to fifth; 1913 drops from first to fourth; 1923, 1918, 1944, 1952, and 1921 become members of the group; and 1914 and 1926 remain relatively unchanged in their respective positions. Bequests and large inter vivos gifts are the outstanding reasons for the major changes in this group, with the exception of 1925, which continues to be quite outstanding in all categories of giving.

In grand total giving, the changes recorded in a ten-year period can be, and are, extraordinary. Four classes are no longer among the top twelve— 1906, 1901, 1892, and 1884. Four new classes have been added - 1930 now second, 1918 now ninth, 1921 now tenth, and 1924 now eleventh. Of the remaining eight recorded in either the 1953 or the 1963 standings, 1915 has moved from seventh to first, 1903 from twelfth to third, 1925 from eighth to fourth, and 1923 from tenth to fifth. Three classes remain in relatively the same positions 1914, 1926, and 1927; and the Class of 1913 has dropped from first to seventh.

So much for a statistical record - and for the cold hard facts. However, after thirteen years of dealing with these records (three years passed as we compiled the initial record as of 1953), we would be cold-blooded, indeed, if we didn't add a closing note.

All of this $44,000,000 has come from Dartmouth men, and Dartmouth women, and Dartmouth families who dearly love this College and who have generously shared their substance with it. This $44,000,000 has come in the form of annual Alumni Fund giving, in gifts to the Capital Gifts Campaign, in bequests and estate planned gifts ranging from $500 to $2,500,000, in the form of a number of major gifts for plant, and in the multitudinous form of gifts of from $10 to $1,500,000 to individual, memorial, plant, class, association, endowment, and special-funds.

The purposes for all this giving are innumerable - unrestricted, general purposes, scholarships, fellowships, instruction, the library, the Tucker Foundation, the graduate schools, the debating program, the Outing Club, the athletic program, the Alumni Fund, the plant funds, and for dozens of special purposes.

So much for the past decade. The superlative record of giving is now a matter of record. We are confident that the coming decade will record even greater gains - for the strength and preeminence of Dartmouth.

Twelve Leading Classes in Giving Current Use 1925 $681,909 1926 624,516 1923 546,075 1915 514,560 1927 493,657 1930 465,955 1924 461,890 1921 437,280 1929 432,050 1914 428,753 1919 423,563 1918 415,865 Endowment & Plant 1915 $4,718,514 1930 1,817,254 1903 1,354,620 1913 904,304 1925 815,227 1923 724,474 1918 712,111 1914 706,930 1944 701,903 1952 649,354 1926 644,908 1921 641,017 Total Giving 1915 $5,233,074 1930 2,283,209 1903 1,507,803 1925 1,497,136 1923 1,270,549 1926 1,269,424 1913 1,185,927 1914 1,135,683 1918 1,127,976 1921 1,078,297 1924 1,004,574 1927 1,003,237