Exeter College Donors' Report p

EXETER COLLEGE DONORS’ REPORT | 09EXETER COLLEGE DONORS’ REPORT | 09From theRectorThere can rarely have been a tougher year for the Collegeto raise money. Yet, wonderfully, many donors continued oreven increased their gifts to the College.In particular, our income to the AnnualFund, our main vehicle for giving bythe vast majority of Old Members,raised more than in any previousyear. Such unrestricted generosityprovides the backbone of supportfor the tutorial system, for help withstudent hardship, for our careers andinternship office, for the library and fora host of small but important activitiesthat enhance College life.Many donors gave in response to ourannual telephone campaign, whichbrings all sorts of unexpected benefitsapart from the financial. It gives ourstudents a glimpse of the College’spast, and a sense of the career choicesthat may face an Exeter graduate. Butit also gives our Old Members a chanceto hear how College has changed sincetheir day – and how, at its heart, itremains unchanged.We have also enjoyed some generousindividual gifts. Some, such as a largegift from Sir Ronald Cohen (1964,PPE) towards the Ruskin development,arrived just after the end of thefinancial year; I will have more to sayabout them in our next report. But wealso received several welcome legacies,including one from Fred Bornhauser(1948, English), to be used to continuehis own devotion to American literaturehere at Exeter College. The responseto my own letter to my contemporariesand older alumni, urging them toremember the College in their wills,has been touchingly enthusiastic.Exeter’s Old Members and Friendsare very generous, with over 1,000making a modest gift each year.We are now fully embarked uponthe College’s Campaign for 2014,Exeter Excelling, in time for our 700thanniversary. We had a series of launchevents in September, culminating inan all-day event at College. We havealready had a warm response, evenbefore sending you word about thepurposes of the Campaign. It will be atthe heart of what the College doesin the next few years, as we aim toraise £45m – of which more than £11mhas already been received. To put thischallenging target into perspective –our endowment is currently valuedat £42m!Your philanthropy already makespossible many of the best aspects ofthis College: its academic excellence,its compassion for students sufferingfinancial problems, its wonderfulmusic and its sports facilities. Inthe past year, we have created anew Fellowship to teach Economics;we have refurbished the Collegeboathouse in memory of the twostudents who died in 2007; we havebeen able to afford to provide adisabled student with the specialmeals she requires; and we havemoved students into comfortable newrooms in our new graduate buildingat Exeter House; and providedscholarships for some of the bestgraduate students in the world. Unlikeat the richer Colleges who can affordit, all of this has happened because ofthe generosity of our Old Members,parents and friends.Thank you for making so muchpossible. The whole College is gratefulfor your continuing support.FRANCES CAIRNCROSSRECTOR23