Fundraising update

Make a donation of ANY AMOUNT before Reunion, and help us add ANOTHER $150,000 to our new Smith Class of 1998 Endowed Scholarship Fund, so we launch our fund at our 25th Reunion with a nest egg greater than $300,000!

What an exciting and inspiring moment in our class’s history and legacy!

If you haven’t had a chance to read the recent email sent to all members of the Class of 1998 by the college with a message from Class President Kate Bussard, we have awesome news to share: the establishment of the Smith College Class of 1998 Endowed Scholarship!

Thanks to a leading gift from our classmate Megan Gardner, your Class Cabinet and several additional classmates have already pledged a total of $100,000 over the next five years. This $100k pledge unlocked a $50,000 match from a generous Alum; and the total $150k pledge allows us to create an Endowed Scholarship Fund in our Class’s name.

Why is this such a big deal?

(Anyone else thinking about investments a lot more since our 20th reunion??!!)

This is money that will go directly to current and future Smithies in the form of scholarship funds.

Endowed scholarships exist in perpetuity. The gift is invested, the principal value remains untouched, and an established percentage of the income is distributed annually as scholarships to Smith students. 

But wait, there’s more!!!

Thanks to the Step Up for Smith participation challenge from another generous alum, we have an incredible opportunity to add another $150,000 to our new Class of 1998 Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Wait, what?!?

Yes, and all we need is for YOU to make a gift of any size by June 30, 2023.

The STEP UP Milestone Participation Challenge is just for classes in the 25th and 35th Reunion cycles (1998–2002 and 1988–1992).

Classes that increase their overall giving participation by at least 15% from July 2022 through June 2023 will each receive $150,000 to establish an unrestricted class endowed scholarship fund (or add to an existing one).

Yes, you heard us right! If our participation rate increases by 15% during Smith’s fiscal year, gifts of any size to any designation will count towards our class getting another $150,000 to ADD to our newly established class endowed scholarship.

Here’s how it works

The class of 1998 had an average participation rate over the last three years of 19.3%.

In order to increase the participation rate by 15% and unlock the $150,000 bonus, 1998 needs 199 members to give a gift of any size this year.

We have 581 members of our Class of 1998. (We have over 350 members in our Class’s Closed (Private) Facebook group.)

Over 40 members of the Class of 1998 already recorded our gifts & pledges already, which have helped establish our Class’s Endowed Scholarship and support the annual fund.

That means we need about 160 class members to make a financial contribution to Smith before June 20, 2023 – ideally before early May 2023 so we reach this goal by our 25th milestone reunion!

If even 1 in 4 of you sibs reading this click here right now to make a gift (one time, any amount, or recurring), we’ll be in the home stretch to adding another $150,000 to our 1998 Class Scholarship before we know it!

When you break it down like that it doesn’t seem so hard, right?

So, will you be one of the people our class and the college need to Step Up and meet the challenge this year?

All of this thanks to an anonymous donor who realizes the importance of participation and coming together and the Here For Every Voice initiative match BUT IT WON’T HAPPEN WITHOUT US!

Click to learn more about the Step Up for Smith Challenge, FAQs, and to check our Class’s progress towards our participation goal increase.

NOTE: Gifts of any size, to any designation, will count.

While the deadline for us to meet the Step Up Challenge is officially June 30, 2023, it would be AWESOME if we reach the goal before Reunion so this news can be announced on campus that weekend!