Small decline in Annual Giving tied to Sept. 11th, economic downturn

Annual giving to the University by alumni, parents and friends fell this past fiscal year for the first time after eight consecutive years of gains. The final donation total came to $36.4 million for the 2001-2002 year, down approximately $300,000 from the previous year.

The most significant reasons for this year's decline, Director of Annual Giving Bill Hardt '63 said, were the tragedy of Sept. 11 — which temporarily put early fund-raising efforts on hold — and the more generalized economic downturn that took hold of the nation in the following year.

"We generally count on the major [five-year interval] reunion years to build momentum for the campaign in the fall, and early momentum was just not in the cards this past year," Hardt said.

At the beginning of January 2002, the running total for annual giving was $2 million behind where it had been a year before. The percentage of alumni supporting the University with donations was also off — down about 2.5 percent from the previous year.

Still, Hardt praised the work of the approximately 2,500 volunteers involved with the yearly fund-raising effort for getting donations back on track and averting potentially severe shortfalls.

"It's very much to everyone's credit that there was no slackening in effort by our volunteers across the country," he said.

Significant declines in annual giving could have a noticeable impact for students — all the money raised by Annual Giving each year covers basic operating expenses of the University. The funds are spent on all aspects of campus life, including dormitory renovation, computers and academics.

Also, because of inflation, Hardt noted, the cost of providing one student with an education increases each year.

"We depend on annual giving to provide the things that are essential to the character of the institution," Hardt said. "Education is quite simply a labor intensive business, especially if you believe, as Princeton does, in small group instruction."

Despite the year's decrease in giving, Hardt said the University still has one of the highest alumni giving percentages of any school in the nation. Also, Princeton is about 10 percent ahead of any other Ivy League school in terms of alumni support, with nearly 60 percent of graduates making donations, he said.

This generosity is something Hardt wants to see continue for years.

"The hope is that people will recognize that someone created opportunities for them and that is something we can try to make possible for other people," he said.

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If past years are any indication, University graduates will likely fulfill Hardt's expectations. Historically, over any given five-year period, nearly 80 percent of all alumni can be expected to donate at least once, he said.

"My outlook is that it is part of the character of Princeton," Hardt said. "We are and always have been a participatory institution . . . I think it's important that annual giving reflect that."