Each year, your philanthropic engagement fills us with pride
In response to inquiries about how alumni giving to the College of Law stacks up by class year, in the 2018 Giving Book, we began publishing “The Big Board.” Here, starting with the Class of 1960, you’ll find a class-by-class giving participation breakdown, with arrows indicating an increase in percentage from last fiscal year, calculated by alumni who made gifts during Fiscal Year 2020 (July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020). You will also find lifetime giving by class, through June 30, 2020.
Annual giving is the lifeblood of the College of Law, and each year there are new successes to celebrate. Early in FY20, the classes of 1959, 1979, 1994, and 1999 kicked off reunion year class challenges with enthusiasm, boosting class participation rates and raising more than $65,000 from 72 donors.
Syracuse University’s third-annual day of giving in November 2019 saw another record performance, with 581 donors making gifts to Boost the ’Cuse, nearly 100 additional gifts compared to the previous year.
In spring 2020, we were filled with gratitude by the outpouring of empathy from alumni who wanted to support College of Law students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
’Cuse Law Cares—part of the larger Syracuse Responds COVID-19 student aid and relief initiative—raised more than $50,000 to provide emergency grants to students facing financial hardships. Thanks to many gifts from alumni and available grant funding, more than 200 of these emergency grants were awarded, and this work continues as
the pandemic evolves. We are grateful to our many alumni who reached out with support during such a difficult time.
We are also grateful to the Class of 2020, which elected to make a special gift to ’Cuse Law Cares, as the University’s Class Act! senior class giving campaign was suspended due to the pandemic. Undeterred by the extraordinary events of 2020, the Class of 2021’s giving campaign is well underway, and class leaders are forging ahead with their philanthropic goals.
As we strive to overcome the new and unprecedented financial challenges for higher education, alumni support is particularly important. Your philanthropy fuels our innovation and progress. It helps us to build on what distinguishes our law school from the more than 200 nationwide. It propels our students into extraordinary careers such as yours. And gifts to the Law Annual Fund and scholarships assist our recruitment efforts by increasing selectivity and lowering class sizes.
Be sure to make your gift in time for next year’s participation report by donating today, and make sure to read next year’s Giving Book to see how your class did in FY21.
To learn more about becoming a Class Agent and spearheading a giving challenge for your class, contact Director of Alumni Affairs Kristen Duggleby at klduggle@law.syr.edu.
