To honor President Ruth Simmons after her 11-year tenure, the Corporation will donate an additional $1 million to the Annual Fund if the fund receives a record 34,317 donations in the 2011-12 fundraising season. While the Annual Fund has hosted matching challenges in previous years, it has never honored an individual person through this type of donation, said Tammie Ruda, executive director of annual giving.
The "Million Dollar Milestone: A Record for Ruth" challenge seeks to surpass the Annual Fund's previous record of 34,316 donations reached in the 2007 fiscal year and would represent an eight percent increase over last year's 31,793 donations, which totaled $35.4 million.
"That's a tall order," Ruda said. "I think that the fact that it is in honor of President Simmons — the fact that we have heard from so many people that they want to do something in her honor — made us believe that we could achieve that."
Ruda said the challenge was set up to thank Simmons for her contributions to the school, which include expanding financial aid for undergraduates and establishing the School of Engineering. Ruda said this is the "most aggressive" participation challenge the Annual Fund has ever sponsored.
Simmons has also facilitated the Annual Fund's expansion dramatically as president, doubling it from $18 million to $36 million in annual donations over the past decade, said Stephen King, senior vice president for University advancement. These funds help support undergraduate financial aid, graduate student fellowships, undergraduate teaching and research awards, first-year seminars, library and technology resources and faculty.
"Ruth championing (the Fund) has allowed us to get through some difficult economic times, and fluctuations in the endowment and continue to move forward with plans for the institution," King said.
"When we thought about President Simmons' tenure here at the University, we realized that a lot of milestones were achieved," Ruda said. If the Annual Fund achieves its goal, it will be another milestone in Simmons' career, she added.
The Annual Fund and the Corporation, the University's highest governing body, set a donation goal rather than a monetary goal to "mirror" President Simmons' focus on community engagement by encouraging those associated with the University to contribute, Ruda said. They also did not want to discourage people from making smaller contributions, King said.
Undergraduate alums contributed more than $25 million to the 2010-11 Annual Fund, accounting for the largest portion of donations. Parents of alums and current students contributed the next largest amount in donations, according to the Annual Fund website. Current students, graduate school alums and other relatives also contributed in smaller amounts to the Fund. There is no exact number for the total amount staff and faculty members contributed because many are listed as alums or parents, Ruda said.
As in past years, the Annual Fund will be raising donations through such venues as the reunion weekend, the Parents' Annual Fund and the Senior Class Gift. The Fund initially planned on hosting "Ruth Booth" events in which faculty members, staff and students could leave video appreciation messages for Simmons while learning more about the fundraising challenge. But the events were canceled due to scheduling conflicts and overlap with other contribution efforts initiated by University groups, Ruda said.
"Ruth has been a champion for the Brown Annual Fund since day one, and she has always stressed the importance of a strong annual fund for a strong university," King said. "The Corporation really wanted to provide an opportunity for everyone in the community to participate in some way to say, ‘thank you.'"
