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Advancing the Mission
of Keuka College
By Fran Crovetti, Executive Director of Development & Gift Planning
hrough the years, alumni, parents
and friends of the College have
demonstrated their generosity in many
ways.
In 1888, Rev. Dr. George Harvey
Ball purchased the farmland on which
Keuka College now sits for $15,751. He
and a committee consisting largely of
ministers then set out to raise the
$50,000 necessary to establish the
College by the sale of lots and by soliciting
funds and donated labor from
local residents.
What Ball had in mind was not an
elite institute catering to the needs of
students who could afford overpriced
tuition and luxurious facilities. In fact, a
brochure published one year after
Keuka’s founding in 1890 describes the
College’s purpose:
“The College is, pre-eminently for
the common people…With ample
endowment, it will raise an army of
country people from comparative ignorance
and consequent weakness to superior
men and women who shall bring
strength to the nation and help to
humanity.”
It certainly would have been simpler
and easier for Ball to create the kind of
institution that didn’t need to balance
the cost of operations against the ability
of students to pay for their education.
But he had a much loftier goal.And perhaps
the greatest testament to Ball’s original
vision for Keuka is that the College
is still, more than 110 years later, fulfilling
the same purpose.Today’s Keuka graduates,
most from rural communities and
families of modest means, are “bringing
strength to the nation and help to
humanity” in large numbers as teachers,
nurses, occupational therapists, business
people, scientists, and social workers.
Today, gifts to the College, much
like the gifts of a century ago, enable
Keuka to continue to fulfill its mission,
providing a high-quality education to all
deserving students, regardless of economic
need.
The Shaping the Future:
One Graduate at a
Time Campaign
In 1996, the College set out to raise
$25 million in gifts and pledges. On
June 30, 2002, campaign chair Esther
Yoder ’60 announced that a recordbreaking
$25.615 million had been
raised. Literally, thousands of gifts were
made toward the achievement of this
goal. In addition, more than 50 percent
of Keuka College alumni stood up and
were counted on the gift rolls.
What’s Next?
Although the College surpassed its
capital campaign goal, not all of the
objectives were met. Ongoing financial
challenges, including Keuka’s continuing
need to supply sufficient scholarship aid
to students and the effects of Sept. 11
on both donor and foundation giving,
have resulted in more donor funds
being directed toward operating expenses
and less funding being made available
for capital projects, including a new Ball
Hall. In addition, Keuka fell short of its
endowment goal.
Therefore, the current fund-raising
plan has two objectives: to continue to
support the annual budget and student
aid through gifts to the Keuka Fund and
to build the College’s endowment
through current and deferred major
gifts.
KEUKA MAGAZINE 12 WINTER 2003
Gift Opportunities
A gift to Keuka College may be
made in three ways. First, by giving to
the Keuka Fund, you will support both
the annual operating budget and student
scholarship aid. Second, a “major gift”
may be restricted for a specific purpose
and paid over a period of three to five
years. Finally, the deferred-giving program
encourages donors to consider
including the College in their estate
planning. Deferred gifts may come in
the form of an annuity or a trust, or, as
in the case of many donors, in the form
of an outright bequest.
The Keuka Fund —
At the Heart of it All
The Keuka Fund is designed to support
Keuka College by providing unrestricted
gifts for annual operating
expenses, including student aid and
scholarships, technology and academic
materials.The Keuka Fund benefits from
the participation of alumni, parents,
trustees, employees, businesses, foundations,
churches and other friends of the
College.
The world may have changed dramatically,
but Keuka College is still committed
to its mission of providing an
education uniquely grounded in values,
life experience, and service, and is still
counting on you.Through your contributions
to the Keuka Fund, you help to
continue a history of excellence, to
establish an even stronger learning environment,
and to fulfill a future of promise
for deserving students.
(For your convenience a pre-addressed return envelope
has been included in this issue of Keuka magazine.)