Education

In a decision that will affect fundraising efforts for THON 2016, the Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon has canceled the third canning weekend of the season. One of the two main reasons for the cancellation is the inability to ensure volunteer travel safety. The second reason is “forced fundraising,” a term coming from a…

Brown University announced Monday that is has received a $50 million gift from a consortium of donors to fund construction of a new building and hire new faculty to expand the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International and Public Affairs. About $25 million will be used for a new 20,000-square-foot building to accommodate additional faculty…

Back in July, Joan Weill, the wife of Citigroup billionaire Sandy Weill, announced she and her husband would donate $20 million to a small, cash-strapped school called Paul Smith's College in New York's Adirondack Mountains with one big string attached: She insisted that the school would have to be renamed in her honor, to forever be…

Joan Weill, the wife of billionaire Sanford Weill, has inscribed herself in stone as one of the greatest, most insensitive egos in today’s philanthropic world. She recently pledged $20 million to financially struggling Paul Smith’s College in northern New York, located in the heart of the Adirondacks. Her only condition was that the institution, created…

As a fundraiser, I’ve been to my fair share of fundraising parties, often hosted by a board member, donor or volunteer. While these events can be a fantastic way to connect and meet new potential major donors, I typically find them to be awkward, stiff and sometimes a little too heavy on the wine. Recently,…

Wellesley College in Massachusetts has announced a $50 million gift from two alumnae who wish to remain anonymous in support of a campus-wide initiative aimed at creating greater opportunity for women and empowering the next generation of women leaders. The gift launches a $500 million fundraising campaign—the largest ever undertaken by a women's college—and will…

Brown University has formally undertaken what it calls the largest comprehensive fundraising push in the Ivy League school's history. The $3 billion "BrownTogether" campaign began Oct. 23, during a celebration at Pembroke Field. The university says the campaign will support education and research, campus infrastructure and student life. Brown president Christina Paxson says the fundraising…

A group of Democrats in the U.S. Senate sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, urging them to stop for-profit colleges from converting to nonprofit status. Those colleges, they argue, are looking to evade federal income taxes, gainful employment regulations and the so-called 90/10 rule, which restricts…

Mark Noltner, who lives in suburban Chicago, heard about McTeacher's Nights when he found a flier in his daughter's backpack last year. "There was a picture of Ronald McDonald [on the flier]," he says, and it was promoting the school fundraiser at a local McDonald's. During McTeacher's Nights, teachers stand behind the counter at McDonald's,…

The University of Wisconsin-Madison launched its most ambitious fundraising campaign ever on Thursday night, asking alumni and other supporters to step into the breach during a time of unprecedented pressure to cut costs and find fresh sources of revenue. The $3.2 billion fund drive comes as the state's flagship public university grapples with an $86…