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A $25,000 scholarship honoring the Class of 2006 has been established in recognition of that group’s record-setting participation in University Advancement’s recently completed “GOLD Rush Challenge” campaign.
More than 500 members of the Class of ’06 made contributions to the University during the six-week period ending Dec. 31, putting them at the forefront of all GOLD (“Graduates Of the Last Decade”) classes and earning the scholarship-naming rights.
This surge in end-of-year giving by the recent graduates reflects a highly favorable view of the University by its newest alumni, administrators say.
“One of the inspirations behind the ‘GOLD Rush Challenge’ was that young alumni as a group have demonstrated extraordinary philanthropic leadership for Boston College,” says Associate Vice President for Annual Giving Matthew Eynon. “Overall, GOLD alumni responded by increasing the number of gifts made by Dec. 31 by 21 percent over the number made a year ago and the winning Class of 2006 increased by 98 percent.”
Eynon notes that giving by young graduates has increased by 100 percent in the past three years. “Creating a challenge to this group seemed like a natural thing to do because they have been so responsive and stepped forward so often and in such great numbers,” he says.
University administrators say that gifts made by the end of the calendar year — instead of the traditional end-of-school fiscal year — not only provided donors with a tax benefit on their 2010 returns, but make immediate funds available to the University to support student and faculty endeavors.
“We wanted to structure something that would create early fiscal year energy with this group,” Eynon said.