After hitting $45M, Nichols expands fundraising goal to $66M

Photo | Courtesy | Nichols College Nichols College's campus in Dudley

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By Grant Welker

Nichols College took two years to hit and surpass a fundraising campaign's goal of bringing in $45 million to the small Dudley school.

Now, after two brothers who serve on the college's board of trustees offered millions more if their donation was matched, Nichols is expanding the campaign by another $10 million.

Nichols has a goal of hitting $66 million by the fall. That comes after a campaign launched in 2014 hit a $45-million milestone two years later.

Brothers John Davis, a 1972 graduate who chairs the Nichols board of trustees, and Steve Davis, a 1980 graduate and fellow trustee, offered up at that point a $5-million donation if it was matched by other donors. A group of other Nichols graduates came through: Keith Anderson, a 1981 graduate; Bob Kuppenheimer, '69; Peter Lynch, '74; John McClutchy Jr., '72; Tom Niles, '63; Al Rock, '63; and Robert Stansky, '78.

Already, the campaign, called Securing a Legacy of Leadership, has supported construction of the Fels Student Center and other campus work. The number of endowed scholarships has jumped from 21 to 78, and the college added programs including the Institute for Women's Leadership and the Emerging Leaders Program.

The campaign has included two gifts of $5 million, roughly 15 gifts of more than $1 million, and more than $10 million in deferred gift commitments.

Nichols isn't the only Central Massachusetts college having success raising money these days.

College of the Holy Cross in Worcester is nearing a goal of $400 million in its campaign, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute far exceeded a $200-million campaign that started in 2012, hitting $248 million. UMass Medical School in Worcester surpassed a $250-million goal in its just-completed campaign, and Clark University in Worcester hit a $125-million fundraising goal nearly two years earlier than anticipated.