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Senior Gift Resources
Senior Gift Resources
Soliciting your peers for funds can be daunting and oftentimes feel overwhelming. There are so many important priorities supported by the Brown Annual Fund, it’s hard to know where to direct your focus.
Here are some tips on making the ask, as well as some common talking points and Brown Annual Fund FAQs:
Making the Ask
Making the Ask
Consider why YOU support the Annual Fund.
You don’t need to be an expert in every Annual Fund topic. But do some research to figure out what is important to YOU. Have you benefited from financial aid? Are you interested in Brown’s goal to become a carbon neutral campus? Chances are, there are many students who think like you and will find these priorities important as well.
Remind your classmates about the opportunities they’ve received from Brown and instill a sense of gratitude.
Brown is a special place for many reasons. Whether it’s the freedom to design your own major, or the wide range of traditions on campus, make sure to remind students that their experience at Brown is unparalleled by any other.
Play off the nostalgia
As seniors, your time at Brown, sadly, is coming to a close. This is one last time for your class to come together, to pay your experience forward to the students following in your footsteps.
Emphasize the collective effort of the Senior Class Gift.
Your Senior Gift is the legacy your class will leave at Brown after leaving. As a group, you can all come together to make a substantial impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does The Brown Fund support?
From academics to campus-wide programs, The Brown Fund supports virtually every aspect of the Brown experience. It funds innovative, self-directed learning opportunities for students. It sustains financial aid (including named Brown Fund Scholarships and the Inman Page Black Alumni Council BAF Scholarship), ensuring that we can keep our promise to meet 100 percent of every undergraduate student's demonstrated need. It supports world-class faculty and provides graduate student support at competitive levels.
Why is supporting The Brown Fund so important?
The Brown Fund supports the University where it is most needed. Most often, our greatest need is financial aid. With The Brown Fund, we're able to make a Brown education possible for the most talented students from every income stratum. Unbound by limitations, The Brown Fund enables the University to nimbly respond to today's most pressing needs and harness emerging opportunities.
Can’t Brown just use their endowment funds?
Money in the endowment is earmarked by donors for certain projects/priorities while the Annual Fund is able to stay nimble and flexible, especially in times of crisis. As an example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, funds from the Annual Fund were used to address the costs students were incurring from needing to move, requiring internet, housing, books, technology, etc.
Why is the Brown Annual Fund crucial to Brown’s excellence?
Financial aid, internship and research opportunities, faculty support: what Brown provides for students and faculty is growing at breakneck speed. Keeping up with this rapid pace hinges upon a healthy annual fund and a strong core of immediate-use funds. Our suite of annual giving options ensures that Brown remains competitive and innovative. A stronger annual fund provides funding for critical initiatives that might otherwise rely on endowment income, helping to sustain the University's academic excellence and furthering Brown's commitment to educational access and service to society.
Donor Recognition
Donor Recognition
Each year, the Brown Annual Fund recognizes its philanthropic champions with membership in three main giving societies.
The 1764 Society celebrates those who contribute annually
The Carrie Tower Society honors those who offer their financial support at the highest levels
The College Hill Society recognizes those who have provided for Brown through gifts in their wills or life-income plans
Other recognition programs include Loyal Bears for athletics annual giving; the Dean’s Circle, for supporters of the Brown Medical Annual Fund; and Brown Family Fellows, for Brown parents and grandparents who support annual giving. Finally, supporters can become an Ever True Sustainer by making a commitment to give monthly, those donors are automatically included in the 1764 Society.
For more information visit https://alumni-friends.brown.edu/giving/donor-recognition
For more helpful resources visit the Helpful Links or FAQ page.
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