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Learn More About the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College
the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College – An Endowment that Grows and Grows
In the early 1960’s the Board of the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College voted to explore the need for a program to solicit donations through bequests, insurance, and other forms of deferred giving to create an endowment fund. The ensuing study committee report recommended such a program, and the Association created the “Bequest and Planned Giving Committee” to develop one.
There were two major components to the plan that was developed and is still in existence and flourishing today. One was the establishment of the entity that would receive future contributions to this endowed fund that would provide special funds for the benefit of the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College and its students – funds for special augmentative programs that might not always be possible within the University budget for the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College.
The second component concerned investment management, and an Investment Committee was established, comprised primarily of financially savvy alumnae. From the beginning we were fortunate to have as an advisor the nationally recognized economist and financial expert, Roger F. Murray II, husband of the late Agnes Mc Dede Murray ’30. He was invited to serve as the chair of the committee in 1969, a post he held until his death a few years ago. The Investment Committee has done an outstanding job over the years.
the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College was created as a special trust on April 15, 1969 with an initial gift of $1000 from the Associate Alumnae. Utilizing outside legal advisors, Adelaide Marcus Zagoren, Executive Director and Dorothea Garber Cracas, a lawyer and member of the original study committee, developed a Declaration of Trust for the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College which was approved by the Association’s Board of Directors. A simple brochure was created, describing the new Fund and the various kinds of deferred gifts it could accept. All Vanguard classes who had already celebrated their 50th Reunion received the brochure, and afterwards each class as it reached its 50th Reunion.
In addition, the Alumnae Newsletter, Magazine, and class reunion letters continuously carried information and instructions on the benefits to the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College of deferred gifts and the legal wording to be used for them– “to the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College .
Now the AADC Web site carries the message as well, with a link to a special Gift Planning Web site – www.douglass.giftplanning. org. Workshops and seminars on financial and gift planning have been offered at Reunion and at other times, all emphasizing the need for these planned gifts.
Over the past thirty–five years the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College has grown steadily and substantially with bequests, memorial and honorary gifts from alumnae, families, and friends, charitable gift annuities, insurance, trusts, IRAs, and other deferred gifts from $10,000 to millions of dollars. A variety of endowed funds now exist, for scholarships, fellowships, special student opportunities, lectures, books, prizes, student stipends and other special programs and projects for the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College women.
The Fund has also grown steadily and substantially through prudent investment practices, professional investment management, and oversight by a diligent Associate Alumnae of Douglass College Investment Committee. That original $1,000 investment is now more than $40 million in restricted and unrestricted funds, which provide substantial income to help the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College women receive an excellent education. In fiscal year 2014 over $1.5 million was provided to the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College, including student financial support, funds for hallmark programs such as the Douglass Project for Rutgers Women in Math, Science, and Engineering and "Shaping a Life", and financial assistance for other initiatives such as recruitment and specialized advising. the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College ensures the "Douglass Difference" for our students.
Currently the AADC can accept gifts for our endowed fund to benefit alumnae programs and services and for scholarship and college program funds previously established. We can no longer accept gifts to establish new undergraduate scholarships or to benefit college programs and facilities.
