Why Support the Annual Fund?

THE ANNUAL FUND: A SIGNIFICANT PART OF W&L'S BUDGET

Last year the almost 10,800 donors to the Annual Fund contributed $5,078,952.76 million in unrestricted support to Washington and Lee.  This comprised nearly 8% of the University's operating budget. The Annual Fund works with tuition and endowment revenues to strengthen the programs and resources at Washington and Lee and to ensure that tuition growth is held to a minimum.

As the University's budget increases, so too must the Annual Fund increase.  The Annual Fund counts on a combination of gifts from new donors and increased gifts from steady supporters each year.  It is important to Washington and Lee that past donors to the Annual Fund support the fund every year, and endeavor to continually increase their support (even if only by a small amount.)  It is also critical to Washington and Lee that every year new donors who have not supported the fund recently or ever decide to make a gift. 

TWO PURPOSES OF THE ANNUAL FUND

The Annual Fund has dual objectives: to raise dollars and to encourage participation of the alumni. The importance of leadership gifts to the Fund cannot be underestimated: only 13% of the University's Annual Fund donors contribute nearly 72% of the Fund.

However, even though the majority of donors make gifts that are smaller in size, each donor--regardless of how much they give--has the same impact on participation on the Annual Fund participation rate.

Alumni participation in the Annual Fund is the single most important measure of alumni loyalty in the eyes of corporations, foundations, rival institutions, prospective faculty and students, and rankings such as US News & World Report. If each alumnus/a who had given at least once in the past five years gave in the same year, participation would be close to 60%. Your support of the Annual Fund has a direct and tangible impact on life at Washington and Lee and helps to ensure its continued strength and success.

RESTRICTED VS. UNRESTRICTED GIFTS

The Annual Fund consists only of unrestricted gifts from alumni, parents, and friends. Gifts for restricted purposes, such as construction, endowment, scholarships, reunion class special gift projects, or other special programs are not included in the Annual Fund dollar total -- nor will those donors count in the participation total, unless they also make a gift to the Annual Fund.

Although Annual Fund gifts are "unrestricted" they are not "undesignated." The designation is the Annual Fund, which supports the University's educational and general expenses through the operating budget.