Why the Alumni Fund Counts Only Unrestricted Gifts

All gifts to Williams are important and appreciated. Gifts to the Alumni Fund are unrestricted and go to work immediately in core programs to support students and faculty as well as the academic and residential facilities that are inherently part of the Williams experience. Alumni Fund gifts are relied upon to cover 5% of all operating expenditures every year.

All gifts are important, but all gifts are not included in the calculation of participation in the Alumni Fund.
Alumni are encouraged to make their first gift each year to the Alumni Fund, and then, if so inclined, to consider other areas for support. The college is grateful for all gifts and to stress the importance of giving for current-year expenditures – so vital to the college’s annual planning – unrestricted gifts are the only gifts included in the participation calculation.

The purpose of the Alumni Fund is to raise unrestricted dollars that can be spent in the current fiscal year.
Williams’ renewed, costly commitment to need-blind admission and financial aid, new faculty positions, and upkeep of existing facilities all require steadily increasing, long-term support from the Alumni Fund. These costs have in common a certain degree of unpredictability. That’s where Alumni Fund gifts serve an invaluable purpose. By providing Williams with a steady stream of discretionary monies, the Alumni Fund enables the college to seize educational opportunities and to address unforeseen problems as they arise.

A steady inflow of unrestricted dollars every year allows Williams to preserve its endowment. Five dollars raised through the Alumni Fund for current unrestricted purposes provide the same available income as generated by approximately 100 dollars in the endowment.