Under a new partnership with the Office of Advancement, the Dickinson Alumni Council (AC) is spearheading new initiatives to encourage philanthropy among the college’s alumni community.

According to Elizabeth Toth ’06, director of Alumni Relations, the AC, which is made up of alumni from various years and locations, has assumed a philanthropic dimension by contacting other alumni to encourage giving to Dickinson.

“The Council is now spending a lot of time reaching out to fellow alumni to tell them about the many exciting ways that they can still be involved with Dickinson,” Toth said. “Dickinson is our alma mater forever and that connection remains strong and valuable for the rest of our lives.”

According to the AC webpage, their goal is to “assist the College in strengthening the connection between all alumni and between alumni and current students in order to create a strong sense of community and to raise the visibility of the College on a national and international level.”

The Council, which meets three times per year, is made up of individual committees that work together between the all-council meetings

“We have a committee that is development-focused, another that focuses on alumni events on and off campus, and another that works specifically on engaging alumni through career and networking opportunities,” said Toth.  “Additionally, AC members attend events whenever possible to meet and speak with alumni, hear their thoughts about the college and let them know how they can be in touch with us today.”

“All members of the Council have held prior volunteer roles for the college, and are members of the Mermaid Society (our loyal donor group). This group of volunteers comes to the Council with great knowledge from across the campus and we help them put it to good use” said Toth.

Toth emphasized the importance of adding philanthropy to the council.

“A strong Dickinson Fund program leads to greater opportunities for Dickinson students,” Toth said. “When we have a strong culture of philanthropy we are able to provide more opportunities, more scholarships, new facilities and new programs. Alumni also give back by volunteering, telling us about internship and job opportunities and recruiting the next generation of Dickinson students.”

According to their website, the Office of Advancement “encourages financial support to advance the college’s mission of preparing young people for engaged lives of citizenship and leadership in the service of society.”

For more information about the Office of Advancement email [email protected].

For more information about the Alumni Council go to https://www.dickinson.edu/homepage/733/alumni_council.