Penn is Making History -- every day

Penn Donors Make History -- Online

In this historic year, midway through our campaign, we're celebrating our donors in a brand new way -- online.

No, we're not talking about a .pdf of a printed donor list.

We're talking about a dynamic, multimedia website where you can see, like never before, the Penn family of 99,657 alumni and friends who made gifts, pledges, and pledge payments of $2,500 or more in FYO9.

      view People Supporting Penn 2009

Read their stories, watch their videos, search their names, and -- most important -- discover how this amazing and diverse community, inspired by Penn and united by purpose, has come together for good.

Together for good. That's the story of Penn people whose collective impact -- from a local elementary school in West Philadelphia, to a small town in North Carolina, to a community of weavers in rural India -- is as real as it is inspiring. And it's a story that's distinctively Penn.

At Penn this is how history is made, and we're pretty confident that People Supporting Penn online could become a model for other universities who celebrate their donors. Let us know if you agree!

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Penn President Amy Gutmann Wins Carnegie Leadership Award

Penn President Amy Gutmann has just won a $500,000 Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award.

      news release | news article

Thrilling news -- but what makes this award even more special is that it recognizes all of our Making History campaign priorities, and celebrates Amy Gutmann's commitment to "making history together."

Just listen:

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Penn Begins Academic Year With Fundraising Milestone

Making History: The Campaign for Penn just got closer to its $3.5 billion goal, reaching a new milestone for the new academic year with a total of $2.5 billion raised.

Penn's campaign is also last month's frontrunner, bringing in the largest gain among the 32 American universities seeking to raise $1 billion or more.

      details here >

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Penn Hits Fundraising Milestone

From the Philadelphia Business Journal:

The University of Pennsylvania said Monday it has hit a major goal in its capital campaign despite a drop off in fund raising in its last fiscal year.

Penn said it has hit the goal of raising 70 percent of the $3.5 billion target of its Making History Campaign, which ends June 30, 2012.

      complete article >

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

In keeping with national trends, giving to the University of Pennsylvania was down over fiscal 2008's record-breaking year, but officials were planning for that and were upbeat that the school nonetheless exceeded its target.

Penn took in $440 million for the 2008-09 year ending June 30, down $36 million or 7.5 percent from the year before -- but still its second highest year ever, said John Zeller, Penn's vice president for development and alumni relations.

"The year was very good, given all that was going on in the world," Zeller said. "We are grateful to our donors and alumni and friends and parents for the support they've given us."

      complete article >

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President Amy Gutmann Applies (Everything She's Learned) to Penn

Three weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal asked the presidents of 10 top colleges and universities to complete an unusual assignment: answer an essay question from their own school's admissions application.

Among the "applicants" was Penn's Amy Gutmann, whose question was, Write page 217 of your 300-page autobiography. (Yes, an actual question from Penn's admissions application.) The rules: no more than 500 words, no help from speechwriters.

Page 217 turned out to be not only a very good page but a very good day for both Amy Gutmann and Penn.

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