by Ryan Cornell for Eastern Mennonite University and available here
Eastern Mennonite University alumni are more generous than the nation’s average college graduates.
That’s not just a gut feeling, either; it’s backed by data. According to EMU Advancement, the Harrisonburg, Virginia, school sports a 12-percent participation rate for grads who give back, compared to a national average rate of eight percent.
That royal generosity was on full display when donors helped EMU shatter its $10.7 million fundraising goal set for the first phase of its Forward Together campaign. From July 2020 to June 2023, more than 4,000 donors provided 17,538 gifts to raise $11.6 million for EMU, about $900,000 above the funding target. In addition to those current gifts, donors also pledged about $11.4 million in new estate commitments, for a grand total of roughly $23 million raised in the past three years.
