Donors Raise Over Seven Million for Bennington Fund
Bennington College recently announced that over 2,000 donors raised almost $7.5 million for the Bennington Fund, making the last fiscal year the best yet for fundraising.
Vice President for Institutional Advancement Matt Rizzo declared the year a record year for fundraising for the Bennington Fund in recent press release, and thanked all the donors that made it possible to raise the $7,495,631.
The college describes the Bennington Fund as, "a critical, current-use stream of funding renewed each and every year to benefit the undergraduate experience, including financial aid, campus renewal, Field Work Term, academic programming and faculty support."
"The Bennington Fund is one important piece of our overall fundraising," said Rizzo. "In recent years, we have also been focusing on building Bennington's endowment. The College has historically not had a robust endowment on which it can rely to support its core programs. We need to build a resource fund that will support Bennington's unique model in perpetuity while we also grow our annual giving program."
The fund made up over half of was a portion of the college's overall $13.6 million total fundraising in FY18, according to Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs Alex Dery Snider. She confirmed that this year's amount raised was up from last year, which Rizzo called at the time, "one of the most successful fundraising years in Bennington College history."
"The Bennington Fund supports all facets of the college's annual operations, including scholarships that are awarded as part of students' financial aid packages, stipends for students on internships as part of our Field Work Term program, and as well as providing support for our buildings and grounds," said Snider.
Bennington College's fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30.
"We're proud that we have 100 percent participation from our Board of Trustees, and we are grateful for their generosity," said Rizzo. "Our alumni and friends of the college see that Bennington's work is more relevant than ever — the world needs the kind of ground-breakers and world-shapers that a Bennington education cultivates. We're grateful that they are so committed to the college, and we look forward to seeing what we can all achieve, together, in the years to come."