With generous donors, GC exceeds fundraising goals
Benefactors to Goshen College contributed over $5 million during the 2013-14 fiscal year, making it the highest yielding year since 2009.
At the close of the fiscal year on June 30, the Goshen College Fund had received $2,000,374, surpassing the goal of $2 million. Overall giving to Goshen College totaled $5,660,153. Overall giving to Goshen College combines two categories: designated and unrestricted.
The unrestricted Goshen College Fund is allocated toward campus needs including capital improvements, salaries for employees and more than $9 million in student aid, helping maintain the affordability of the college, which was recently named to a list of best value private colleges in the Midwest.
“Keeping Goshen College affordable for as many students as we can is always one of our highest priorities,” said President Jim Brenneman. “We are delighted that alumni and friends came through again this year to partner with us in that endeavor. It is my commitment that we will be good stewards of all that has been given.”
All other gifts are designated by donors who wish to give to a specific cause or initiative. In the past year, designated donations totaled $3,659,779, including a generous gift for endowment from the Margaret Norman family and a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Donors to Goshen College include alumni, churches, friends, businesses, organizations and foundations. Alumni provided the highest level of financial support with donations totaling $1,589,953 this year, well above the national average.
“Current and future students will be the beneficiaries of this encouragement from alumni and friends, who have given generously to both current needs and endowed scholarships,” said Jim Caskey, vice president for institutional advancement.
The largest donation to the college came from Margaret Norman, who passed away in 2013 at age 92. She left $1.5 million to Goshen College in honor of her younger sister, Bettie Norman, who graduated from Goshen College with a music degree in 1955 and later taught in the music department.
Lilly Endowment, Inc., a philanthropic Indiana foundation, gifted Goshen College with a $1 million grant in December 2013. The grant primarily supports a new extracurricular program, “Pathways to Careers,” which begins in the fall of 2014. The goal of Pathways to Careers is to give all students advanced preparation for job training, planning and placement.
Another $200,000 from the grant will support student entrepreneurship grants, which fund student-run businesses in order to encourage creativity and refine business skills.
Although the giving period for 2013-2014 has come to a close, the Goshen College Development Office is already working toward its goal for the 2014-15 fiscal year. To contact the office to donate or request more information, visit goshen.edu/give, or call Jim Caskey at 574-535-7556.
– Liz Core ’14