Comments on: Amherst Recieves $125 Million in Donations http://www.ephblog.com/2009/11/05/amherst-recieves-125-million-in-donations/ All Things Eph Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:40:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: '12 http://www.ephblog.com/2009/11/05/amherst-recieves-125-million-in-donations/#comment-74254 '12 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:30:22 +0000 http://www.ephblog.com/?p=24142#comment-74254 I doubt that Williams will ever get $100 million out of me, let alone $1 million. But I already give my high school $15 a year so they can claim higher alumni participation, and I'll do the same for Williams as soon as I graduate. Although it takes a lot of <$1000 donations to reach the big bucks, Williams seems to do pretty well in getting alums all over the place monetarily to contribute each year. I doubt that Williams will ever get $100 million out of me, let alone $1 million. But I already give my high school $15 a year so they can claim higher alumni participation, and I’ll do the same for Williams as soon as I graduate. Although it takes a lot of <$1000 donations to reach the big bucks, Williams seems to do pretty well in getting alums all over the place monetarily to contribute each year.

]]> By: JeffZ http://www.ephblog.com/2009/11/05/amherst-recieves-125-million-in-donations/#comment-74162 JeffZ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:35:28 +0000 http://www.ephblog.com/?p=24142#comment-74162 First, $100 million doesn't exactly grow on trees -- there have been very, very, very few gifts to liberal arts college above the largest gift Williams has ever received (which I think is around 25 million), and the odds are, it is somewhat random to find an alum (a) wealthy enough that they can comfortably give that much away (b) inclined to gift it all in one lump sum to their alma mater. Amherst had one such alum, Williams, to date, has zero -- not exactly indicative of anything more than happenstance. Second, if Morty didn't secure such a gift during a fundraising drive and during the planned construction of four massive new buildings on campus (all with great naming opportunities), why do you think he'd be able to secure one had he stayed on an extra year or two? Sometimes fresh blood and a fresh voice is needed for fundraising, and very few modern college presidents last beyond one major campaign, and for good reasons. Falk will have his shot during the next capital campaign, the planning for which will probably begin not long after he settles into his office (the quiet phase you figure will start around 2011-2012, maybe depending in part on where the markets are in a year or two). Third, Amherst has already raised, in the quiet phase and first year, 350 million out of a goal of 425. How much did Williams raise by the end of year one of its last campaign, as a percentage of 400 million? I am guessing it is far less, meaning that these massive donations will likely spur Amherst's campaign to earn more than 20 percent over its goal, which is where Williams' campaign ended up. Of course, my memory could be wrong -- does anyone know how much Williams had raised one year into Climb Far? First, $100 million doesn’t exactly grow on trees — there have been very, very, very few gifts to liberal arts college above the largest gift Williams has ever received (which I think is around 25 million), and the odds are, it is somewhat random to find an alum (a) wealthy enough that they can comfortably give that much away (b) inclined to gift it all in one lump sum to their alma mater. Amherst had one such alum, Williams, to date, has zero — not exactly indicative of anything more than happenstance.

Second, if Morty didn’t secure such a gift during a fundraising drive and during the planned construction of four massive new buildings on campus (all with great naming opportunities), why do you think he’d be able to secure one had he stayed on an extra year or two? Sometimes fresh blood and a fresh voice is needed for fundraising, and very few modern college presidents last beyond one major campaign, and for good reasons. Falk will have his shot during the next capital campaign, the planning for which will probably begin not long after he settles into his office (the quiet phase you figure will start around 2011-2012, maybe depending in part on where the markets are in a year or two).

Third, Amherst has already raised, in the quiet phase and first year, 350 million out of a goal of 425. How much did Williams raise by the end of year one of its last campaign, as a percentage of 400 million? I am guessing it is far less, meaning that these massive donations will likely spur Amherst’s campaign to earn more than 20 percent over its goal, which is where Williams’ campaign ended up. Of course, my memory could be wrong — does anyone know how much Williams had raised one year into Climb Far?

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