Colby College reaches $500M fundraising milestone

File Photo / Maureen Milliken Colby College in Waterville ....

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By Staff

Colby College is making steady northern progress in its "Dare Northward" capital campaign.

The Waterville school said Thursday it has raised $500 million in three years of the fundraising drive, whose goal is to reach $750 million by June 30, 2023.

More than 20,000 donors have contributed to the campaign, according to a news release.

Dare Northward supports a variety of initiatives by the college, some of which are already in progress. They include increasing financial aid for students; building new athletic and performing arts centers; enhancing the college’s art museum and science labs; and investing in several downtown Waterville real estate developments.

The campaign has also allowed Colby to expand the size of its faculty by 15%, increasing the 1,800-student school’s research activity in fields such as computational biology and genomics, according to the release.

“The acts of generosity that sustain and propel this institution are truly remarkable,” said President David A. Greene. “The college has never been stronger in the quality of its academic programs and student experience, and we are deeply grateful to every member of the Colby community who is making this journey possible.”

The name of the campaign is a nod to Colby’s founders, who traveled north up the Kennebec River to charter the school in 1813. But Dare Northward may be historic for another reason — the drive, according to Colby, is the largest one ever undertaken by a liberal arts college.

The campaign is certainly sizable. In comparison, Bates College of Lewiston is now, like Colby, about two-thirds of the way through its own multi-year capital drive, which has a $300 million goal.

Major universities, however, have raised major funds. In 2018, Harvard completed a five-year campaign that collected $9.6 billion in donations, the most ever for a post-secondary school, according to the Harvard Crimson. Stanford previously had the largest on record, $6.2 billion raised from 2007-12.