People who attend Albion College are impacted by Albion College. More than that, their lives are changed. And over the past 12 months, driven by their zeal to pay it forward, they gave to Albion College in near-record numbers to change lives for years to come.

“Every day I hear stories from alumni about the remarkable change that attending Albion brought to their lives, and many want to pay that forward,” said Bob Anderson, vice president for alumni relations and development. “Albion is clearly on the move up and our alumni and friends are making that possible.”

Indeed, the lifetime value of a liberal arts education and Albion’s well-established identity as an exemplary liberal arts college continue to resonate strongly, indicated in part by final fundraising totals for the 2018 fiscal year, which concluded June 30.

Overall financial production—encompassing outright gifts, pledges, planned gifts, realized undocumented bequests, gifts in kind, and the face value of life-income gifts—totaled $12.8 million, the second-largest figure of the last 10 years. Another measure of the College’s fundraising year is the $9.8 million total in gift income, which consists of outright gifts and payments of pledges made in previous years; it is the highest such total in the last decade and represents increases of 56 percent and 46 percent from the 2017 and 2016 fiscal years, respectively.

“Gift income essentially means cash in the door that is ready to benefit our current and future students,” Anderson said. “This result only happens because alumni are inspired and feel engaged with their alma mater.”

Examples of that inspiration and engagement in the last year can be found all over:

• From friends honoring a recently passed alumnus through a new endowed scholarship for students with financial need;
• To an alumna’s new endowed scholarship for Chicago-area underrepresented students interested in the healthcare professions;
• To a group of Britons rallying together to support needed and unforeseen renovations to Albion’s tennis courts;
• To Ford Institute alums currently building a career-development fund to assist students facing financial hurdles—the fund would help defray costs associated with internships and similar off-campus experiential-learning opportunities.

Additionally, the number of donors grew by more than 2 percent, from 4,115 to 4,204.

The results are a strong follow-up to the 2017 fiscal year’s $16.2 million in total production, which was the highest total in at least the last 10 years.

“More alumni are actively participating in Albion’s push forward,” Anderson said. “That’s evidenced by their hugely important gifts to the Albion College Fund, endowed scholarships, gifts supporting capital projects, and generous giving in other ways.

“Our faculty and staff give our students the keys to unlock their passion over their four years here—passion that goes on to change the world,” Anderson added. “It’s a compelling vision the entire Albion family can celebrate; that celebration is also coming through in financial support, and we are very grateful for it.”

Thank you for your support of Albion College!