Becoming Even Stronger – Together

Years ago, Americans realized the best pathway to a better future was having more highly educated citizens, resulting in greater benefits to individuals and to our country’s well-being through enhanced economic stability (and growth), greater security, more volunteerism, deeper commitments to democracy, more creativity and open-mindedness, better health, and more.

Meredith is proud of its 127 years of advancing the education of women (and men at the graduate level) to promote that better future for us all. Like other successful colleges, Meredith depends on the generosity of alumnae, friends, and others to ensure our strong future.  As we wind down Beyond Strong | The Campaign for Meredith, I thought you might like to know where we are.

WE DID IT! We reached our campaign goal of raising $75 million in six years.

Well, that is not quite true. We actually surpassed our goal by over $10 million, raising more than $86 million (and still counting!). The official closing date of the campaign is December 31, 2018, giving a little more time for some donors and yet-to-be-donors who still want to participate in this campaign (and some are already making second and third gifts). We want to be sure everyone who wants to be part of Beyond Strong can be. Why close it at all? Both accounting and advancement practices call on us to make a clean “end” to a campaign to calculate accurate totals.  But rest assured – we are NOT slowing down!  There is still much to do and many deserving students whose interests can be best explored and developed at Meredith College.

Beyond Strong represents a significant step forward for the College, supporting building renovations, programmatic establishments and enhancements, and scholarships (look for a full list of achievements, coming soon). In addition, our last campaign set a goal of $33.5 million and raised $41.5 million in seven years. Our current campaign more than doubled the goal AND the receipts of the last campaign and accomplished those feats in six years.  Further, our last campaign saw three gifts of more than $1 million. This campaign has attracted 32 gifts of more than $1 million. And this campaign raised more money than was even IN our endowment ($67 million) when we began in 2012.

I am so grateful to Vice President for Institutional Advancement Lennie Barton and his team, as well as our Campaign Planning and Steering Committees, and our Board of Trustees for their phenomenal work … and to our faculty, staff, and students whose own contributions have set record levels here and challenged national averages.

More important, however, is our gratitude for your help. You have not only made your own gifts, but have also made introductions, hosted parties and dinners, provided testimonials of your pride in the Meredith story, and made your passion for this beloved college known. Our students – and our country – are all the better for your support.

And just so you know, it is fun making history with you.