Gifts made from June 1, 2012, through May 31, 2013, outpaced the previous fiscal year by $2.8 million.
The 2012-13 fiscal year also brought considerable growth in alumni and parent giving. Both groups topped their contributions made in the previous year, with parent gifts totaling more than $5 million and overall alumni participation increasing from 19 to 21 percent.
Alumni giving received a significant boost with Elon’s brick campaign, “Pave the Way,” which garnered support from 2,300 alumni, including more than 350 first-time Elon donors. Overall, 5,439 alumni made gifts to their alma mater last year.
“The education we received and memories we made at Elon will last a lifetime,” says Brian O’Shea ’04 of New York. “Our commitment to providing the same opportunities for others should last just as long.”
Private philanthropy is essential to the Elon student experience. Donors who make gifts to Elon’s annual fund provide critical funding that goes to work immediately, enhancing the university’s academic departments, facilities and scholarship programs.
Gifts made to Elon’s endowment are invested to create a permanent source of funding for faculty development, student scholarships, and transformational engaged learning experiences such as study abroad, internships, and undergraduate research. Endowed scholarship aid is particularly vital in making an Elon education possible for students with financial need, special talents and remarkable academic gifts.
“Attending Elon has been a dream come true, and the scholarship I received made that dream a reality for me,” says Stacey Crutchfield, a rising Elon senior and endowed scholarship recipient. “I am so thankful for the opportunity I’ve been given, and I know that my education here will help me be successful in the future.”
Elon donors created 16 new endowments during the 2012-13 fiscal year for need- and talent-based scholarships; engaged learning experiences; and the Elon Academy, a university-run college access and success program.
“We are grateful to the parents, alumni and friends who truly make a difference every year in the lives of our students,” says Jim Piatt, vice president for university advancement. “The impact of these gifts will be felt around the entire campus, ensuring that bright students of today and tomorrow receive the very best education possible.”
Other areas of impact include:
- Campus facilities: BB&T Corporation named the field at Hunt Softball Park and several Elon parents supported university capital projects: Chris ’78 and Nicolette Martin funded Elon’s new Martin Alumni Center; Eric and Lori Sklut made a major gift toward renovation of the Sklut Hillel Center; and Don and Ellen Scott made a lead contribution to build Scott Studios, a new theatrical and recital space in the Gerald L. Francis Center.
- Elon athletics: The Phoenix Club raised $2.7 million during the fiscal year. In addition, 23.5 percent of former student-athletes made a gift to the university, with 17.5 percent of those donors directing their gifts to support athletics.
- Faculty and staff campaign: Employee giving participation hit a record 67 percent this year, up from 65 percent previously, and gifts from employees totaled more than $420,000.
- 32 percent of the Class of 2013 participated in the senior class giving campaign.