Directing Gifts

Where should I direct my gift?

You can direct your gift toward myriad options, including specific funds, schools, and purposes. Please consult the Gift Guide for highlighted opportunities or review the list of funds when you give online. Through 2011, any gift of any amount to the University counts as a gift to The Columbia Campaign.

How can I support my school or division?

Visit the Gift Guide to review and select highlighted gift opportunities in your school or program. You can also direct your gift to your school or program when you give online.

Can I restrict my gift to a specific purpose (make a restricted gift)?

Absolutely! Many alumni and friends designate their gifts for purposes or programs that are particularly meaningful to them. From the Giving to Columbia home page, you can view gift opportunities by cause as well as school or program. Visit the Gift Guide to consider gifts related to the strategic directions that the University has identified.

How will my gift be recognized? How will I be informed of how my gift is being used?

All donors receive a certificate in honor of their gift. Columbia also supports many programs that recognize individual donors.

Examples include:

Donors of gifts over $10,000 receive personalized letters from President Lee C. Bollinger.

Scholarship fund donors receive thank-you notes from scholarship recipients and often get the opportunity to meet them at an event.

Donors of endowed chairs in the Arts and Sciences departments receive detailed summaries of the chairholder’s activities.

Donors of $1 million or more can become University Benefactors, which entitles them to special communications from President Bollinger.

How do I make a gift in memory or honor of someone?

When using the online gift form, you have the opportunity to direct your gift to a school or purpose and to designate your gift in memory or honor of someone. Simply enter the honoree’s name as well as contact information so we can inform the appropriate parties of your gift.

What naming opportunities, such as scholarships, buildings, or professorships, are available to donors?

There are many naming opportunities available. Substantial gifts directed to capital projects may offer naming opportunities for new buildings, classrooms, lounges, libraries, auditoriums, lecture halls, offices, conference rooms, and more. Opportunities also exist for donors to name fellowships, professorships, and class and student scholarships. Many of these opportunities can be found by searching the Gift Guide.

The types of naming opportunities available will vary from school to school. Generally, these opportunities have minimum donation amounts in excess of $1 million. However, there are naming opportunities at lower gift levels, with some named scholarships available for a $5,000 or $10,000 gift.

What happens to my gift if it’s unrestricted?

Annual fund gifts of all sizes, particularly unrestricted donations, are one way of providing critical support for Columbia’s schools and programs. These gifts enable the schools and programs to allocate funds to their greatest immediate needs. Annual funds provide essential year-to-year support for financial aid, student services, and academic programs—areas that directly affect the lives of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Sometimes even very large donations are in the form of unrestricted endowment—offering the University the flexibility to address its greatest needs.

What happens to my gift if it’s spendable or for current use?

Establishing a current-use or spendable fund for a specific program or department allows Columbia the flexibility of using the full amount of your gift for immediate needs. Like an unrestricted gift, current-use and spendable gifts provide critical, immediate support for Columbia’s schools and programs as well as undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Annual Fund gifts, one of the most important kinds of gifts to the University, are often spendable.

Does my annual fund gift count toward the overall Campaign goal?

Every gift counts, and broad alumni participation at all levels is a Campaign goal in itself. In an unusual step, the Trustees’ resolution that authorized The Columbia Campaign in June 2006 highlighted increased participation in both alumni events and annual giving programs as a distinct measure of the Campaign’s success. A sustained University-wide fundraising effort like The Columbia Campaign is a proven means of inspiring donors at higher levels, especially those building the endowment. At the same time, it furthers the momentum in annual giving, which remains a crucial source of funding for both scholarships and everyday programming and student activities at each of Columbia’s schools.

Isn’t The Columbia Campaign mainly about funding expansion in Manhattanville?

No. In fact, only 20 percent of the Campaign goal is in support of projects that are slated for Manhattanville, should the proposal be approved. The Campaign is, however, about what Manhattanville represents: Columbia’s readiness to take a major leap forward as one of the greatest universities in the world—one that provides its faculty and students with the resources needed to continue their world-class scholarship and the scientific and medical research contributions that have improved the well-being of millions of individuals around the globe.

Keep in mind also that the plan for Manhattanville is still taking shape. Once the final plan makes it through the public review process, construction will occur in phases over a period of not simply years, but decades.


QUESTIONS CONTACTS COLLEGE FUND VOLUNTEERS

© Columbia University 2007