Welcome to the 2007-08 report for
Partners in Annual Giving.

With this report we celebrate the results of our 2007-08 Partners campaign and thank each of you whose generosity enriched the experience of St. Olaf students. This past year 12,809 alumni, parents, friends of the college and corporations gave just over $3.9 million to Partners, the college’s annual fund, exceeding our goal of $3.75 million. This gratifying result shows, quite simply, that our donors not only perceive the value in a St. Olaf education but also are prepared to sustain it with gifts, which provide financial aid to students, enable the college to recruit and retain faculty and staff dedicated to its mission, fund maintenance and renewal of our beautiful campus, and support the many other elements of our budget that, taken together, constitute the St. Olaf experience.

The contribution of the Partners program to St. Olaf’s budget is essential to the college’s ability to fulfill its mission. Because revenue from the Comprehensive Fee paid by St. Olaf students and their families does not, by itself, fund St. Olaf’s annual operations, the college must each year turn to other sources to close the gap between tuition revenue and the expenses necessary to provide a St. Olaf education. Investment earnings from our endowment close part of that gap. So do grants, fees, and the auxiliary revenue that we generate from other college operations. Partners closes the rest of that gap. It enables us to provide our students with the experience they seek and deserve.

As an Ole, I give to Partners in thanksgiving for the habits of mind and heart I acquired at St. Olaf: for the professors who taught me, for the staff who guided me, for the friends I made, and for the life skills I acquired as a student. I also give in recognition that it falls to each generation of Oles to help provide a St. Olaf experience for the generations who come after us. This report acknowledges the many others who give to St. Olaf for similar reasons. I hope it will inspire you to begin, to continue or to increase your giving as well.

On behalf of St. Olaf, and especially our students, I thank you for your generous support of our college.

Sincerely,

David R. Anderson '74
President, St. Olaf College