The College had good cause to celebrate when the Campaign for William and Mary exceeded its goal, concluding with $517.55 million. In addition to the Campaign finishing in excess of half-a-billion dollars on June 30, the College's endowment had also grown well past half-a-billion dollars by the time the fiscal year ended on June 30.
In fact, between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007, the endowment increased 19.2 percent or $94.2 million, growing from $491.7 million to $585.9 million.
"As a result of this investment performance, all of the important programs and priorities of the College will be even stronger in the long term," says Howard J. Busbee '65, J.D. '67, M.L.T. '68, former chair of The College of William & Mary Foundation.
The consolidated endowment is comprised of seven organizational sources of capital, including The College of William & Mary Foundation, the Board of Visitors endowment, the Marshall-Wythe Foundation, and foundations at the Mason School of Business and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The increase is the result of a number of factors, including new contributions to the endowment, positive investment performance, gains in funds held in trust by others, increases in real estate holdings, and increases in gift receivables.
The comprehensive Campaign for William and Mary raised gifts over a period of seven years for expendable operating purposes as well as for capital purposes such as endowment and facilities. By comparison, the endowment consists of assets accumulated through gifts made to the College to be held in perpetuity. The College has been raising money for and accumulating its endowment for more than 70 years through The College of William & Mary Foundation.
