Colby-Sawyer College has been selected to receive a 2020 CASE Educational Fundraising Award from the Council of Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The annual CASE awards recognize exemplary development programs based on a blind review of data submitted to the CASE Voluntary Support of Education survey.
Colby-Sawyer received the award for Overall Improvement in the Private Liberal Arts Institutions with Endowments Under $150 Million category, which recognizes colleges and universities that demonstrate significant program growth across the most recent three years of data. In that time, Colby-Sawyer achieved a 56% increase in total funds raised, an 11% increase in the Colby-Sawyer Fund, which provides crucial support to help maintain current expenses and respond to opportunity, and a 17% increase in the number of donors to the college.
“This award is a result of our generous donors that give to our highest priorities combined with the dedication and hard work of our talented advancement team,” Colby-Sawyer President Susan D. Stuebner said. “Together, our donors and advancement professionals make it possible for our students to discover their potential to build a better world. We are humbled and honored to receive this award.”
According to CASE, award winners are not selected based solely on total funds raised. A selection committee reviews hundreds of pages of data and considers factors including patterns of growth in total support, overall breadth of fundraising, patterns of growth in gifts from sources like alumni, other individuals, corporations and foundations, as well as alumni participation.
CASE says that in showcasing what it calls “best-of-the-best programs,” the organization helps its members identify institutions that are doing smart and innovative work from which others can learn.
“Whilst today we celebrate the schools, colleges and universities in the United States that embody the best in educational fundraising, we want to acknowledge the people who make such achievements possible,” CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham said in a press release announcing the annual awards. “Successful fundraising happens when everyone participates, from the staff and faculty to the institution’s leadership. This inspiring philanthropic engagement is guided by dedicated and professional development staff and supported by generous volunteers. Collectively, we are advancing education — key to addressing the many serious challenges our world faces today.”