Assembly weekend kicked off with a meeting of the HCF Council Executive Committee, the first annual Kick-Off Meeting of volunteers from across the Harvard College Fund, and the Leadership Dinner, where the annual HCF Volunteer Awards were presented.

In addition, the Executive Committee announced its ambitious goal of raising $40 million in immediate-use support by June 30, 2010. In support of the goal, a new communications strategy was unveiled that emphasizes examples of impact and supports volunteers in the development of their own personal stories for use in solicitation efforts.

Saturday morning’s program highlighted the new General Education curriculum and provided an opportunity for volunteers to hear from faculty currently teaching General Education courses, including Dean Smith.

President Faust rounded out the morning program with an inspiring look at Harvard’s financial aid history and the importance of the university’s commitment to supporting access for students from a broad range of backgrounds.

Those who braved the weather were rewarded with a 37-3 victory over rival Princeton by Harvard’s football squad.

• Click here to view the 2009 HCF Assembly Program (PDF)

As Dean Smith has been hard at work on a wide variety of issues and opportunities, he held a Dean’s Discussion in September to update the Harvard community on the financial progress FAS has made in the past year.

In addition, he introduced the Idea Bank, an opportunity for all members of the FAS community to contribute and debate budget reshaping ideas that will help inform the decision-making process. He also released the Dean’s Annual Report, detailing the “the many exciting achievements of the past 16 months, a time that was characterized by great accomplishments as well as great challenges.”

In FY09, 618 volunteers took on peer-to-peer solicitations on behalf of the Harvard College Fund.  We would like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank a portion of those volunteer solicitors who truly went above and beyond.  Whether it was tackling solicitations early and often, reaching out to non-donors who felt disconnected from Harvard, or motivating their fellow solicitors in the final push, the following people deserve and extra round of applause. Read more »

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. Read more »

Last fall, we re-launched the YardLINE website with a new look, fresh content, and updated volunteer resources.  Take a look back at YardLINE FY09, re-familiarize yourselves with the content, and let us know how you’d like us to improve the site for FY10. Read more »

There are still two weeks left before the end of the 2009 Fiscal Year, and all of our volunteers are working extremely hard to reach HCF goals.  We wanted to share some encouraging updates from our Reunion, Associates, and Participation programs.  Read more »

At the HCF Annual Meeting, we acknowledged and thanked members of the Executive Committee whose terms have come to an end, and we welcomed new leaders.  Read on to learn more about these extraordinary volunteers. Read more »

On June 3, the HCF Annual Meeting and Luncheon took place at the Faculty Club.  We were joined by over 130 volunteer leaders, spanning the classes of 1938-2005, Harvard Parents and GSAS alumni.  Read on for some highlights and photos of the event. Read more »

Spearheaded by Co-Chairs Andrew Krumholz, Kat McKinley, and Nick Noyer, the Senior Gift Committee ran a tremendous campaign and has broken the Senior Gift participation record of 72%, held by the Class of 2003.  To-date, 74% of the Class of 2009 has supported Senior Gift - a fantastic achievement. Read more »

As you continue your conversations with classmates this spring, we wanted to make you aware of a Fund-wide email campaign that will be sent to non-donors in May and June.  The emails contain simple and specific messages that we hope will encourage alumni to make their annual gift before June 30.  Please leave your comments below - we would love to hear your feedback about these messages before we click “send.” Read more »