Welcome to FY10! This moment is a critical opportunity to reaffirm the Harvard College Fund as a primary source of current-use support for the College. As we prepare for the coming academic year, we will have a focused approach on emphasizing current-use support as it relates to Dean Mike Smith’s ongoing and emerging priorities.

First and foremost, we’ll be establishing Fund-wide current-use goals for the HCF overall, to be strived for by both reunion and non-reunion classes. We’ll all work together to determine the part that each class, as well as the Parents Fund and Graduate School Fund, will play in reaching this goal.  In the process, we will want to refine our messaging and communications about the impact of current use giving on the students, research and teaching at Harvard.  We are continually considering striking the right balance between current-use gifts, which are not invested in the endowment and spent immediately, and endowment gifts.

Second, we will be introducing three new opportunities for donor recognition that will emphasize current-use giving. The Harvard Yard Society is already in place for FY09 donors. This society will recognize alumni, parents, and friends who have made current-use, unrestricted gifts of $50,000 or more. They will receive communications from the Dean with information about the impact of current-use gifts. Additionally, we will be placing a recognition wall in University Hall that lists the Harvard Yard Society donors from the previous fiscal year. The wall will be updated each year, and will convey to the FAS community how much we value these gifts.  Donors who make current-use, unrestricted gifts of $25,000 or more will continue to receive correspondence about how their contributions benefited Harvard.  In FY10, we will be rolling out the Harvard College Fund Scholars Program and the Graduate School Fund Fellows Program. These groups are for donors of $25,000 and up who earmark their current-use gifts for either undergraduate or graduate financial aid.  During the year in which the gift is made, donors will support one student per $25,000 given, and will receive a detailed report on each student who has benefited from their gift.  Donors will also be given an opportunity to meet their students.

We would also like to call your attention to the HCF Kick-Off meeting this fall. This meeting will be an opportunity for volunteer leaders discuss common HCF goals and prepare for our shared work to benefit Harvard’s deserving students. Our goal in this working meeting is to engage all volunteers, in reunion and non-reunion years, at every level.

The Kick-Off meeting will precede the HCF Assembly weekend, which will be an exciting opportunity to connect with fellow volunteers and to hear from President Faust and Dean Smith. We have an exciting lineup of symposia, all of which will focus on the new General Education curriculum. Of course, no Assembly weekend would be complete without a football game; this year Harvard will take on Princeton. More details on the Assembly will be coming soon, so stay tuned.

As you can see, the coming year is going to be an exciting one for the Fund. There will be a lot of changes, and we’ll rely on you, our volunteer leaders, to advance our efforts.