Giving to Cornell > Recognition & Thanks > Annual Report

The 2007-08 Annual Report

The 2008-09 Annual Report will be published in early November.

Below we are pleased to provide you the 2007-08 Annual Report.

To respect the privacy of our benefactors on the worldwide web, only the college's Annual Report is viewable on this public page.  The Honor Roll of Donors portion is available online but on a separate, secure web page. To view the entire 2007-2008 Annual Report & Honor Roll of Donors that includes the honor roll of donors, a username and password may be requested by contacting the Advancement Office.

A Message from the President
A Message from the chair of the Board of Trustees

Fundraising Highlights

  

A Message from President Garner

Cornell held its 150th Commencement exercises in May. Much has changed in a century-and-a-half, but not the essential characteristics of a Cornell education. Liberally educated people are needed today just as they were in 1853. We believe, as did Elder George Bowman, that education is essential for civil society.


We emphasize residential life, close interaction between students and faculty, and preparing students to lead and serve. Our mission is essentially unchanged. 

In 2007–08, the year covered by this Annual Report and Honor Roll of Donors, Cornell launched Extraordinary Opportunities: The Campaign for Cornell College, the most ambitious campaign in its history. This campaign assures that our remarkable mission will go forward indefinitely. We seek to raise $92 million for endowment, facilities, and academic programs. As a result of our silent phase and public launch to date, Cornellians have given back with unprecedented generosity. At the end of the fiscal year we had reached $82.4 million of the goal.

This campaign is already having an impact on the quality of a Cornell education, and through the growth in our endowment, will do so into perpetuity. In 2007–08 students enjoyed speakers, internships, fellowships, visiting scholars, and facilities improvements that would not have happened without your generosity. In short, the campaign is creating and sustaining extraordinary opportunities in the classroom, on campus, and around the world. The Annual Fund, the yearly fund that directly and immediately impacts the lives of students, faculty, and staff, reached a record $2.28 million—the highest per-donor amount in our history.

While we are pleased with this year’s Annual Fund results and the progress to date in the Extraordinary Opportunities campaign, we haven’t met our goals. Key facilities, including The Commons and King Chapel, as well as the endowment and academic programs, await full funding. Just as past
generations supported so many extraordinary student experiences, now is our opportunity to show leadership for future generations of Cornellians.

This campaign is about our students, and your gifts are for them. On behalf of our students, thank you for your generosity in this extraordinary year.

With best wishes from the Hilltop,

Les Garner
President, Cornell College

 

 

A message from the chair of the Board of Trustees

How many of you have read the article in the May 19 issue of Forbes magazine titled “How to Choose a College”? I encourage you to go online and do so. Certainly, one of the reasons I liked it was the “extraordinary” rating it gave to Cornell College. But what struck me more powerfully was what produced this high ranking—the success of Cornell students once they graduated.

In last year’s Annual Report the college’s history demonstrates the “immense impact of Cornell graduates on the quality of life in our communities, our country, and in the far corners of the world.” The Forbes report affirms for me, and I hope for you, the truth of this observation.

Much good work has and continues to go on at Cornell. You can be proud of your college.

To receive a sense of the amount and kind of good work taking place on the Hilltop, read President Garner’s letter carefully. Note not only the amounts of your contributions but more importantly the kinds of activities and experiences they are providing current Cornellians. I envy the broader world view these students are developing at such an early age. You can be proud of the “extraordinary” support you are providing the college.

A second observation I made last year was to recognize that “small, residential, liberal arts colleges like Cornell have played and will continue to play an important role in the future of our country.” There are approximately 300 private liberal arts colleges in the United States, each existing almost entirely on the love and generosity of its alumni. It is encouraging to me that we are not in this alone; it is also  encouraging to me the responsible way you have taken on our part in this challenge.

This fall my role as chair of the Board of Trustees comes to completion. I am thankful to have the privilege of remaining on the Board for three additional years. With the successful completion of the Extraordinary Opportunities campaign in sight, witnessing its growing impact will be energizing.

In closing I ask you not to forget that your support is appreciated, it is needed, and it is an investment with great significance. Keep up the good work.

Dick Brubaker ’55
Chair, Cornell College Board of Trustees

 

Fundraising Highlights

Banner Year for Cornell’s Annual Fund

Record-setting donations and the participation of young alumni marked a banner year for Cornell’s Annual Fund. The Annual Fund, the yearly foundation of support that directly and immediately impacts the lives of students, faculty, and staff, raised a record $2.28 million for the 2008 fiscal year (July 1, 2007–June 30, 2008). The total reflects the highest amount raised for the Annual Fund, as well as the highest per-donor amount in the college’s history. We are grateful to the 4,487 donors, including parents, alumni, and friends of the college. The average donation rose nearly five percent for both friends and alumni in FY 2008.

Save Some Green

Nearly 200 donors took advantage of making gifts to the college through Cornell’s secure and cost-effective online giving web page and contributed over $140,000. The Cornell website offers an array of helpful information, services, and tools when looking for what’s happening on the Hilltop.

Cornell Alumni and Parents Answer the Call

Over the course of the year, 71 students reconnected with thousands of alumni and parents during the annual phonathon campaign, securing the highest total amount of pledges and gifts in our history of calling! An overwhelming response showed an increase of $46,500 in gifts from last year with the record high of $562,888 for the Annual Fund.

2008 Senior Class Challenge

The Senior Challenge has long provided an opportunity for Cornell’s senior class to begin a lifetime of philanthropic commitment to the Hilltop. The 2008 Senior Challenge team worked to gain class-wide participation through five-year pledges to the college and secured $32,434.64 in gifts which included a matching gift from Andrea Wirth, Class of 2000, and a participation matching gift from President Les and Katrina Garner.

New Members to the President’s Society

This year 125 alumni and friends joined the Presidents Society for the first time. Society members give gifts of $1,500 or more annually to Cornell and are invited to the Presidents Society Dinner and receive special communications from President Les Garner, including three Presidential White Papers each year. In total, there was an 11 percent increase in Presidents Society membership.

Cornell Fellows: 3 Years and 99 Placements!

After just three-and-a-half years in operation, the Cornell Fellows Program has placed 99 students in extraordinary off-campus fellowships and has become a coveted experience in which to launch a career or graduate study. Among the outcomes generated this year as a result of our donors were our first international Fellowship in Japan, a Fellow who did law school-level research for the Institute for Justice, and a research Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine.