June 1 - May 31 every year!

Your gift to Skidmore’s Annual Fund directly supports students and faculty AND helps to meet the Williamson Challenge:  10,000 donors = $1,000,000!  

The Annual Fund turns individual gifts of all sizes into a collective pool of support for every aspect of a Skidmore education.  Every dollar is put to immediate use to ensure that Skidmore is:

• financially accessible to a highly qualified and diverse student body
• recruits and retains an exceptional faculty
• supports broad curricular and co-curricular programs
• provides and maintains the best facilities possible for academics, the arts, and athletics

"Unrestricted giving" is extremely important because Skidmore directs those funds to the areas of greatest need - our highest priorities and initiatives.  Another option is to support an area that is important to you by designating your gift to one of the on-going priorities below. 

Skidmore Scholarship

In the last five years, Skidmore has more than doubled its commitment to financial aid, from $16 million to $31 million, with the help of alumni gifts to the Annual Fund.  With the financial turmoil of the recent past, the College is spending an additional $3.3 million this year to continue to make a Skidmore education accessible to students who have the talent and commitment to join our community.  In 2009-10, half of all students will receive some sort of aid.  In fact, the average award grant is $26,900!

Faculty Support

Faculty are the heart of a Skidmore education.  For generations, Skidmore students have been taught by exceptional faculty members in all disciplines.  Student/faculty collaboration is one of the hallmarks of a Skidmore education.  Gifts to the Annual Fund support the work of our faculty and help provide the resources that help us attract and retain first-rate professors and to create opportunities for their own scholarship and research.  Skidmore’s faculty numbers 233, 83% of whom hold the highest degree in their disciplines.  Our student faculty ratio is 9:1. 

Academic Initiative Support

Gifts to the Annual Fund support academic programming, initiatives, and priorities across the College.  With a broad curriculum and 70 possible majors (and an almost limitless number of self-determined majors), your gift to academic initiatives supports students in every field, every program, every discipline.  Last year more than 50 students stayed on campus to do research with faculty members in various fields – this is a hands-on learning experience that brings a meaningful experience to our students and is often very helpful to them as they pursue career or graduate school opportunities.

Student Life Programs

Student participation in activities beyond the boundaries of the typical classroom help to create a rich and dynamic community.  Gifts to the Annual Fund help to support student clubs and organizations, athletics, volunteer programs, the performing arts – all enhancing the overall Skidmore experience and, in many cases, providing meaningful community support. 

Multicultural and Diversity Initiatives

Skidmore’s student body is diverse and brings to campus a variety of multicultural perspectives – the Class of 2013 hails from 35 states and 23 countries, and 20% are self-identified students of color.  A key part of a Skidmore education is to enhance and build student experience and perspective in the areas of multicultural understanding, social responsibility, and informed citizenship through the curriculum, events, and activities we host on campus.