Note: This page covers options for giving to The Smith Fund currently, including options for designated purposes. To learn about Planned Giving, see the Planned Giving page. To learn about our December challenge, click the button at left!
From your Fund Team Chair, Gwen Mattleman:
THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING TO SMITH
Ready to give? Click here.
With music and pageantry, national leaders honored Smith and its new President. On October 21, 2023, many of us attended the joyful and moving inauguration of Smith’s new President, Sarah Willie-LeBreton, in person and online. Heads of major academic institutions joined past presidents of the College, political voices including Senator Elizabeth Warren, and other leaders from around the country to honor Smith and our new President during the ceremony. It’s an important and hopeful time at Smith, and a great time for you to make a gift to the College. Follow these links to learn more:
Interesting Facts Designation Options Matching Gifts or Challenges How to Give Other Ways You Can Help
DID YOU KNOW?
- Smith has eliminated loans from its undergraduate financial aid packages for students receiving institutional need-based aid, replacing those funds with institutional grants. The college will meet the full documented need, as determined by college policy, of all admitted students who apply for aid by the published deadlines.
- Applications for the Class of 2027 were up over 36% from the previous year, with Smith’s largest applicant pool, including record numbers of students of color, 1st-gen college students, international students, and applicants from outside the northeast U.S.
- 2/3 of Smithies rely on financial aid. Smith Fund gifts provide critical support for the College’s annual operating expenses, including scholarship aid.
- Milestone Reunion classes typically are given a substantial goal for cumulative giving from all sources. The College has pivoted from its previous emphasis on a specific dollar goal to a total class participation goal.
Smith Fund Giving Options — Even if you normally make gifts to Smith via your own or another endowed/restricted fund (such as Friends of the Libraries), for our 50th Reunion Cycle, please consider other Smith Fund designations, as well. Please make your gift now. You may designate your gift to be used in a specific way (details here). Here are some designation opportunities to explore:
- Smith Fund (General): annual fund used where most is needed
- General Scholarship Aid Fund: aid for all categories of students (domestic, international, traditional-aged, Ada Comstock students)
- Student Life Fund: campus activities (e.g., clubs, athletics, student government)
- International Students Scholarship Aid Fund: financial aid packages for Smith’s international student population
- Equity Inclusion Fund: initiatives that engage, connect, and embrace underrepresented students
- Career Services: career advising, internship and fellowship placement, workshops, and events
- Creative and Performing Arts Fund: for Smith’s art, dance, film and media studies, music and theatre departments, as well as co-curricular programming
- Faculty Support: Faculty compensation
- Curricular Support: academic programs, faculty resources, guest lectures, faculty-led field trips and hands-on experiences
- Neilson Library Fund: library programs and services that transform teaching, learning and research
- Sustainability Fund: campus-wide green practices
- Study Away Fund: student study away from campus
- Facilities Fund: maintenance of houses, academic and administrative buildings and grounds
If you have questions about Smith Fund designations, please contact Jodi Fallon Fern, Director of Milestone Reunion Program at 413-585-4407 or jfallonfern@smith.edu
WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
- Check to see if your employer will match your gift! Scroll down to the “Match Your Gift” section here and use the window to check.
- IMPORTANT: Offer a Match or Challenge on your own or with a few friends! Contact the Fund Chair for more information.
- Consider making a your gift in memory of a classmate, or in honor of a special friend. See the In Memoriam page to access our class necrology.
HOW TO GIVE
Online: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/14740/donations/new
- Option to give in honor/memory of a classmate or other special person
- Has pulldown menu with designation options
- You also can choose BOTH the Smith Fund (General) and additional gift designations and allocate specific amounts to each, e.g., $$ to Smith Fund (General) and $$ to the Emergency Fund for Students of Color.
By Mail: Make checks to Smith College. Note gift restrictions in the memo line or in accompanying note. Send to Smith College Gift Accounting, 33 Elm Street, Northampton, MA 01063
By Phone: Call 800-526-2023 or 413-585-2036 (credit card gifts)
Gifts of Securities, Donor-Advised Fund, and other ways to give: https://www.smith.edu/giving or contact the Gifts and Records staff at giftaccounting@smith.edu 800-526-2023 (opt. 2), or 413-585-2036.
DONE! I’M A DONOR AND BOOSTED OUR TOTALS AND PARTICIPATION (YAY!!!!) NOW WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO HELP REACH OUR CLASS GOALS?
- Remind friends and housemates to make their annual Smith Fund gift.
- Offer a match or challenge individually or with one or two friends.
- Volunteer to help increase class giving participation.
Thank you for your generosity and your commitment to Smith!
(This page was updated 11/24/2024 by Nan Smith Stifel)