Historic Milestone
Donors embrace This is the Time as College exceeds $100M goal for comprehensive campaign
Organizers knew it had never been attempted in Marietta College’s 188-year history. They knew that raising $100 million would be a massive undertaking. They knew it would take the unified strength of alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends of the College to achieve that goal. Most of all, the campaign leadership knew their hard work would help secure the future of their alma mater for generations to come.
“This has been a remarkable journey for all of us,” says Leslie Straub Ritter ’85, who co-chaired the Campaign Committee with her husband, Don Ritter ’81. “Reaching the $100 million mark in June shows just how strong The Long Blue Line is and how much our alumni care for Marietta College.”
Funds support transformative gifts — including 43 endowed scholarships — the annual fund, planned giving, and special donor-specific projects. It took 8,406 donors to reach the goal of Marietta’s This is the Time comprehensive campaign.
Janet Burkel Poet ’67 was among one of those donors. In fact, she has more consecutive annual gifts than any other living donor — 54 years’ worth, to be exact.
“I got married after graduation and it was important to my husband (the late Raymond Poet ’66) that we give back, and it became something that we did every year,” Poet says. “I had scholarships when I was a student, and it helped. … I think if you received any kind of financial aid or scholarship, you should pass it on to someone else when you can. It was done for your benefit, and you can be that (benefit) for another student.”
43 endowed scholarships
Dr. Josh Jacobs, Vice President for Advancement, says the College celebrated numerous accomplishments that were made possible by caring alumni.
“When you think of COVID and the fire in the Alpha Xi Delta sorority house — during those challenging times, our alumni and friends really stepped up,” Jacobs says. “Alums were reaching out and asking what they could do to help. During the pandemic, they couldn’t be here in person, but they wanted to make sure our students had what they needed to succeed. What our alumni have done for the College is nothing short of remarkable.”
Before the campaign started its quiet phase on July 1, 2018, there was a readiness study conducted by Gonser Gerber, and the campaign itself was dreamt, studied and started by the original steering committee and the Advancement staff. The public phase of the comprehensive campaign was launched during the 2021 Homecoming.
“We wanted to ensure that the public campaign launch was exciting; and having fellow alums and current students together on campus created the perfect environment to make the announcement,” Don Ritter says.
By the time the public phase began, the Campaign Committee and the Advancement team had already raised about two-thirds of the goal. The momentum generated after the Homecoming announcement provided the increased awareness and interest to fulfill the $100 million goal by June 8, 2023 — three weeks ahead of the deadline. By June 30, 2023, the College reached $101 million.
“We couldn’t have blazed this trail without Pioneers,” says Kathryn Gloor, Senior Director of Annual Giving.
Leading up to the campaign, the Advancement team looked at invigorating how the College approaches alumni engagement, Gloor says.
8,406 donors
“Particularly with Day of Giving, we find Pioneers who share their love of Marietta College with their classmates because Marietta made a difference in their lives. Whether you graduated in 1960, 1970, or 2023, there were alumni who invested in your education,” Gloor says. “I think these stories inspire other alumni to show their support, whether that’s through supporting The Marietta Fund, planned giving, or other special projects.”
Not only did the College reinvigorate Day of Giving, it also established the Virtual Stadium Sell Out drive to help support Athletics during the pandemic, when competitions were held without spectators. The Advancement team also strengthened donor recognition — ensuring alumni, employees, and friends of the College understood the impact their gifts had on students and properly thanking them.
Poet was among 28 members of the “Sinclair 50” — a special group recognized for giving back to the College for 50 consecutive years. She was the first Sinclair Society member to receive this special thank-you, which included 50 handwritten notes from the Marietta community, including current students, faculty, and staff.
“That was a surprise,” Poet says. “I still have the notes and I read some of them from time to time.”
Gloor and former Trustee Patti Kral Zecchi ’71 visited Poet to present her with the notes, historic photographs, and a commemorative crystal marking her donor milestone.
“Education has always been important to Janet and her late husband Raymond,” Gloor says. “She was able to attend Marietta thanks to financial aid provided by donors, and she and Ray each made their first gift to MC in 1967. While there are many generous members of The Long Blue Line, few have given back as consistently, or touched as many Pioneers as they have over the decades.”
Another major component of the comprehensive campaign was planned giving, which can have a significant and lasting impact on the College’s financial stability, endowment growth, scholarship opportunities, capital projects, program development, and more.
“Perhaps most importantly, a strong planned giving program is an investment in the future that provides a consistent stream of income over time and positions the institution for long-term success and growth,” says Bethany Leslie, Director of Major Gifts. “Some of the most notable improvements or developments in Marietta College’s history are a direct result of forward-thinking alumni and friends who made provisions for our students in their plans for the future.”
Of the $100 million goal, donors provided $30 million — 29.5 percent — in planned gift commitments. The Legacy Society recognizes donors who remember the College in their estate plans, including bequests, charitable gift annuities, retirement plans or real estate gifts, charitable remainder trusts, and charitable lead trusts.
“Campaign Co-Chairs, Don ’81 and Leslie Straub Ritter ’85, have been amazing champions of our planned giving efforts throughout the campaign,” Bethany Leslie says. “They made their own generous estate commitment and reached out to dozens of their fellow alumni, board members, and friends to encourage them to consider their legacies at MC. We are tremendously grateful for their help spreading the word and to every single donor who has chosen to include the College in their plans for the future.”
During this year’s Homecoming, a celebration is planned for donors who documented major gifts during the five-year campaign.
Jacobs says his team is busy working on planning another memorable Homecoming weekend for alumni and students to enjoy.
“The entire team of staff and volunteers that made this campaign a success should be celebrated for all the hard work they put in over the years,” Jacobs says. “You see our staff and volunteers at events like Homecoming or alumni gatherings, but there are also people working very hard behind the scenes, documenting gifts, engaging individual alumni, and answering questions people have about the campaign. The team has really bought into the fact that the only thing we can control is our input and our effort along the way to create an environment in which someone has confidence in the institution and excitement about investing in our future.”
One of the newest Advancement team members is Marissa Jerina ’23, Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement/Center for Digital Engagement, who is also in the youngest class of alumni.
“As a student, you don’t realize how much support you receive from alumni and donors,” she says. “I worked for Orientation and I was a Resident Assistant. I was on the Dance team, in a sorority, played intramurals, and I was in Theatre during my freshman year. Every single thing I was doing was being supported by alumni donations.”
Because she was so involved on campus, Jerina knew about the This is the Time campaign. Now that she works in Advancement, she has the opportunity to engage with young alumni — many of them were her classmates — about the College.
“It’s fun for me because I get to send birthday cards and notes to alumni, and some of them are my friends,” Jerina says. “So, they see that the College is trying to keep a connection going, even though they’re no longer students. The College still cares and it’s always going to be home, and that’s the message we try to send.”
Closing out the campaign gave Jacobs a moment to reflect on how much was accomplished in a relatively short time.
“It’s hard to fathom the impact of what our work will do,” Jacobs says. “The support that it has provided and will provide to current and future students is going to make a difference in their lives, their families’ lives and in their communities. It took Pioneers working together to accomplish this. It’s a great day to be a Pioneer!”
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