Janis Clark ’69 Johnston, whose gifts support the Entrepreneurship Program inmemory of her husband, joined a
January session Economic Development and Innovation class in India this year, with Sree Majumder, assistant professor of
economics, and Jim Falkiner ’69,
The Mark E. Johnston Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies.
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Deanna Beckner ’15 had opportunity to thank personally Esther Rupel ’47 and others in the Rupel family for her Byron and Edith Rupel Memorial Scholarship
at a recent scholarship dinner.
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 The Office of Financial Services was among those successfully completing
the staff giving goal of 100 percent participation from every Manchester
department. (Row 1: Jennifer Steele, Katherine Allen Haff, Mary Ann McWithey; Row 2: Mike Leckrone, Kari Weaver, Cindy Seitz, Susie Snep)
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The annual Friends of Manchester
Auburn Golf Outing has raised more
than $1 million for Spartan athletics, including $50,000 last summer.
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Warren '50 and Helen Yeager '50 Garner created the Alumni Teacher of the Year recognition and generously support the College with annual and planned giving.
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NAMES.
They’re etched in bronze plaques, enormous and modest. There’s a big one in the
Physician’s Atrium of the Science Center, with 160 names of graduates with M.D.
or a science Ph.D. after their names.
Names are carved into stone. A stone base for a lamp post on College Avenue
represents an entire class honoring the liberal arts: Class of 1921.
Names are on signs over doors, on sides of buildings, on displays.
They’re on insurance policies, annuities and wills. Hundreds of them, signed on
the bottom line.
They’re on endowed scholarships. 339 of those.
They’re even on a couple of medallions that faculty
don with their caps and gowns. Andy Rich, the Isaac
and Etta H. Oppenheim Professor of Mathematical
Sciences, wears one.
252 names are on the donor pledge list of super-Phonathoner Ha Vu ’12 for her four-year Manchester
career connecting with donors.
Thousands of names are in the annual Stewardship
report of donors. Hundreds more are needed.
The message here: Names count.
Names of alumni, names of spouses and children of
alumni, of foundations and businesses, of employees,
and of other friends who have witnessed the power of
a Manchester degree – all are significant.
They want to further the Mission to graduate persons
of ability and conviction … persons prepared for their
careers and to make a difference.
Their gifts come in all sizes, and in a variety of
formats. Some gifts aren’t arriving now, but rather as
confirmed bequests. It is nice to know they’re coming.
That helps with planning.
“Each gift is significant to Manchester,” says Michael
Eastman, vice president for college advancement.
“We’re hoping new alumni as well as seasoned alumni
will help Manchester raise the final $20 million of its
$100 million Students First! goal.” For example,
alumni and friends may want to sweeten their annual
contributions to The Manchester Fund or support a
campaign initiative that has special meaning to them.
Alumni giving helps pay the bills, helps build new
learning centers, and provides scholarships and
international opportunities for students.
Alumni giving also is important to Manchester’s
ranking in the popular college guides for high school
students. Giving, at any level, indicates satisfaction
and pride in the alma mater.
“Alumni contributions to Manchester College are
highly visible to students,” says Amy Kraner
Luthanen ’12, a psychology major who has received an $11,000 Faculty Scholarship for each of her four
years at Manchester.
“Beyond the immediate
provision of facilities and programs, the contributions highlight what the College has meant to so many
students throughout the years. Seeing that alumni value the education and
experiences they gained here and that they want to
provide the same for future students really creates a sense of a dynamic community of learners.”
Alumni giving inspires Luthanen: “I can definitely see
myself giving back to Manchester in the future.”
She realizes that her giving likely will start modestly.
She won’t be alone. About 1,120 donors gave
amounts ranging from $5 to $99 last year. That
$43,650 given collectively helps pay the electric bill
or a professor’s salary or a professors salary or
scholarships for new students.
Phonathon each fall and spring is an easy way for
donors to connect and give habitually.
“The Phonathon is a win-win for the College. It helps
personalize the gifting process and also gives the
student-caller great interaction with alumni and
real-world connections,” says Dan Studebaker ’74,
a religion and philosophy major who co-owns
Studebaker Nursery in New Carlisle, Ohio.
His and other alumni conversations with the
Phonathoners have led to more than $200,000 in
donations to The Manchester Fund this school year.
Gifts to The Manchester Fund help pay for utilities,
technology, supplies, wages, maintenance … the
typical expenses.
Donors can be specific, too, from endowed
scholarships to academic programs to new buildings
like the Academic Center to athletics. There’s even a
Green Fund and a Commemorative Tree Fund.
The annual Friends of Manchester Auburn Golf
Outing has raised more than $1 million for Spartan
athletics, including $50,000 last summer. More help is
needed: Big bills remain for the new PERC classrooms,
locker rooms and athletic training facilities.
Manchester faculty, staff and retirees also give
“significantly”– almost $136,000 last year in cash.
There are a bazillion other ways to put Students First! Development experts call it planned giving: creative
and flexible ways to provide for future generations of
students, not just those discovering Manchester today. Some planned gifts provide income for the donors.
Many reduce income taxes.
Manchester has a planned giving experts eager to help
donors tailor a gift that is perfect for them.
The bottom line for putting Students First!:
Give now for now.
Give now for later.
Give now and draw income from your gift for life.
Give yearly.
Give a lot once.
Give small, but regularly.
Give forever.
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1957: When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt came to town