President Charles M. Vest (left) and Joseph S. Collins, director of the Alumni Fund, cut a cake at a celebration marking a record-breaking year. In fiscal 1996, the Alumni Fund won the "triple crown:" exceeding its annual goal of $23 million by collecting $24.8 million in gifts; surpassing the 30,500-donor goal with 30,509 (and breaking the 30,000-donor level for the first time); and having a median gift of $100 as more than half (51 percent) of donors contributing at least that amount. In other highlights, graduate alumni set a new record with more than 10,800 donors (the sixth straight year of increase), and undergraduate alumni participation increased to 44 percent, with more than 19,700 contributors and a record 10,500 of them contributing $100 or more.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on July 24, 1996.
