Albion College Community Answers Call With Record-Setting Giving

August 19, 2019

A call for support over the last year was answered by the entire Albion College community in inspiring fashion, sparking a record fundraising total that will benefit the College for years to come in ways that will prove beneficial and dramatic.

In final reports to the Division of Institutional Advancement for the fiscal year that ended June 30, Albion raised $34.2 million in overall financial production, surpassing by more than $6 million the production number of the previous two fiscal years combined. And those two years had been the College’s best fundraising years in at least the last decade.

“This is a testament to the hard work and determination of so many people involved with Albion College,” said Bob Anderson, vice president for alumni relations and advancement. “Alumni and friends are showing faith in Albion College and its future. Without them, this would not have been possible.”

Total production (which counts pledges and estate gifts to be realized in the future) is certainly a telling part of the story, but additional numbers reflect in more detail the benefits to Albion College.

• The $34.2 million includes more than $16 million in planned estate gifts and more than $5 million to support the College’s endowment.
• Gift income, which Institutional Advancement calls “cash in the door,” reached $11.3 million, the highest total in at least a decade.
• That cash total includes $2.1 million to support the annual fund, which touches every aspect of the student experience, from FURSCA projects to faculty development to building maintenance.
• Gifts of note over the past year include the $1 million David, ’70, and Kate Johnson Endowed Chair in Chemistry; the $1 million Anna and Carl Weiskittel Endowed Scholarship for Build Albion Fellows (from their daughter Barbara Weiskittel, ’83); the $5.1 million to establish the Lisa, ’79, and James Wilson, ’77, Institute for Medicine; and the $5 million Joe, ’82, and Julie Serra gift for a greatly expanded student wellness center, construction for which is about to get under way.
• The total also includes a seven-figure gift that focuses on student success and achievement. Details pertaining to this gift will be announced soon.

“Because our alumni believe in the work of our faculty and staff, and they believe that students will connect with the world and make a difference, they have supported Albion generously,” Anderson said. “Faculty, staff, current students, alumni and friends of the College played essential roles in obtaining these game-changing results. Thank you!”

What does it take to help Albion College change the world?

One donor. One gift. And one powerful purpose at the heart of it all.