In a stunning development, Gonser Gerber client McPherson College announced in July 2023 that it had received a second commitment of $500 million from an anonymous donor, who had pledged $500 million last year as part of a unique giving challenge. Combined, the two pledges are among the largest private gifts ever received by an American college.
As a result of the gifts, the college says that its endowment will eventually be worth $1.59 billion, resulting in what its news release claimed will be the largest endowment of any small liberal arts college in the United States.
The gift came in an unusual form — a “double-match” estate gift, in which the donor would contribute two dollars for every dollar given by others, up to a total of $500 million for the college’s endowment. Both estate gift commitments and outright gifts to the college’s endowment qualified for the match.
McPherson had until June 30, 2023 to reach that goal, and this week it confirmed that it had, in fact, met the $500 million double-match challenge. But that was not the end of the good news. The big reveal? The anonymous donor was committing an additional $500 million estate gift for a total commitment of $1 billion.
In recognition of the gift, the McPherson College Board of Trustees voted to name the McPherson College endowment after two late, beloved alumni and professors at McPherson College, Drs. John Ward and John Burkholder.
The college, which is probably best known for its unique, nationally recognized Automotive Restoration Technology degree program (comedian and car collector Jay Leno is one of its financial supporters), said that most of the donations used to meet the challenge will be received over time as estate gifts.
“Today is historic, not just for McPherson College, but for all small liberal arts colleges in America,” said Michael Schneider, McPherson’s president. “I am incredibly grateful to our anonymous donor for giving us an unprecedented opportunity—and responsibility—to build and implement our strategic vision of becoming a destination learning community.”
“Now, the work begins to build a bridge to our future endowment,” Schneider added, in the news release. “We need to carefully plan how the income from the endowment is deployed to reimagine and construct the campus of the future, build a much-needed rural health pipeline in Kansas, create a center for the future of automotive engineering and work to make college more affordable for all our students. There has never been a better day to be a part of the McPherson College community!”
Find out more: https://www.mcpherson.edu/2023/07/mcpherson-college-establishes-1-billion-endowment/
