The “For Every Future” campaign recently entered its second year of public fundraising, having garnered significant momentum since its launch party last October. As of Sept. 3, 2024, the college had reached about 76% of its total fundraising goal and reached 71% alumni engagement, 14 percentage points short of its 85% goal, according to the campaign’s website. The college is also currently running a new need-based aid challenge to raise money for financial aid.
Vice President for Advancement Dan Courcey acknowledged the campaign’s momentum while emphasizing the importance of remaining diligent.
“We are still at the point where we’re pinching ourselves that we are where we are for this campaign,” he said. “It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that this has been stupendously successful. That’s hard for us to say things like that because that’s not in our nature, but we’re approaching almost two years ahead of schedule, which we didn’t think was remotely possible.”
The first year of the campaign received many unrestricted donations, which are gifts without specific restrictions on what they are used to fund, according to Courcey. The second year of the campaign's public phase is seeing more targeted donations, especially in support of financial aid that seeks to enhance college access.
Alanna Shanley ’99, associate vice president for Advancement and co-executive director of “For Every Future,” noted that one of the most popular restrictions for donors to apply to their gifts is to offer financial aid gifts.
“We receive the most number of gifts for the alumni fund and parent’s fund, which are unrestricted funds, and financial aid is the second most popular bucket that people put their dollars in,” she said.
Courcey highlighted a new need-based aid challenge that will soon take place within the campaign. The goal of the initiative is to attract first-time financial aid donors who will have their donations matched by a portion of $10 million additional funds.
Jami Black, associate vice president for Advancement and co-executive director of the campaign, explained how the parameters of the college’s fundraising efforts for need-based aid operate. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action and decreased racial diversity in this year’s first-year class, students in affinity groups have expressed concerns about the college’s efforts to build diversity.
“In general, we can’t restrict financial aid by race. Donors can only share a preference,” she said. “The rule on affirmative action has already impacted our ability, but it has not lessened our ability to raise funds for financial aid dollars.”
Courcey echoed the impact of the ruling but shared that the campaign continues to prioritize access to Middlebury as one pillar of its fundraising this year.
“A lot of the focus right now is on first-generation support,” Courcey said.
Courcey mentioned the significant role that President Laurie Patton has played in the fundraising process. With the presidential position in transition, Courcey looks forward to working with the college’s next leader on continuing the fundraising drive.
“Laurie Patton is leaving us in three months, so we’ve had to adjust the time frames for the campaign. I think our main objective is to hit the goal as early as we can and to celebrate that incredible victory of what we achieved, and then work with the new leader on new directions and new possibilities,” he said.
Black added that fundraising will be an ongoing endeavor no matter who is serving as the college president.
“I’ll just underscore that we never stop fundraising. We have campaigns, but outside of campaigns, we continue to fundraise. A campaign is just a hyperfocus during a period of time,” she said. “We’re always going to support — as much as we can — access, academic excellence and experiences as well as capital facilities building. It’s just the vision changes with the new president.”
One of the campaign's goals is to boost alumni engagement with the college’s fundraising. On Sept. 18, the Middlebury community hosted a reception with Board of Trustees Chair Ted Truscott ’83 in London, which is part of a series of in-person meetings in various cities with the largest alumni concentration. The college has previously hosted such events in Burlington, Boston, New York City and San Francisco. Other upcoming events are planned in Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Shanley encouraged alumni to show their support for the campaign in various ways, including making a gift, attending an event, volunteering or communicating with the college in a one-on-one capacity.
“I would argue that the presidential search is a very cool and unique opportunity to engage in conversations with our alums as well, and that’s happening,” Courcey said. The college is currently running a survey for alumni that asks what their vision is for Middlebury in the future and what they hope to see addressed by the college’s new president next year.
Shanley emphasized the importance of not just alumni contributions but all kinds of support, highlighting how central philanthropy is to the college's operations.
“Twenty-five to 30% of the college’s operating budget is funded by philanthropy past and current, so we all benefit from generations of supporters who have put money in the endowment that keeps this institution running,” she said. “Our job is to keep that going through current fundraising that serves our needs now and into the future.”
