The income from the tuition and fees paid by our currently enrolled students covers approximately 70% of the annual cost of a Franklin Pierce education.  To keep a balanced budget, our university must either significantly raise tuition, or conduct fundraising to cover the remaining percentage of the annual budget.

Families vary in their ability to provide charitable support to Franklin Pierce University.  Some can do little more than pay their annual tuition and fees.  Others can easily make an annual gift, and still others have the ability to give leadership gifts of $1000, $2500, or more.  The Parents Fund asks all Franklin Pierce parents to give at whatever level they are comfortable at.

The Parents Fund is a division of the Franklin Pierce Annual Fund.  Other divisions include appeals to undergraduate and graduate alumni, parents of our graduates, corporate gifts, and major gifts.

Every gift counts, whatever the amount!  Just by making an annual donation to the Parents fund you show your commitment to and support of our university and its students.  Imagine the statement it would make if we could say that 80% or even 90% of the parents in a given class chose to support the Parents Fund!

Larger donations are greatly needed and appreciated at Franklin Pierce University. While we encourage as many donors as possible to support the Parents Fund, the reality is that 80% of Annual Fund proceeds come from approximately 20% of the donors. Larger gifts (typically $1000 or more) are essential if we are to meet our goals and provide the support our students deserve!  Also, larger gifts make a greater impact on advancing our institution's mission and strategic plan.  Annual gifts of $1000 and higher qualify the donor for membership in the Presidents Council.

Parents Fund donations support a number of essential services and programs at our university.  The largest portions of the proceeds go toward supporting our extensive scholarship program, which makes a Franklin Pierce education possible for students with demonstrated financial challenges.  Parents Fund donations also support improvements to our campus facilities, and help to underwrite a variety of student programs.  Finally, when the overall Annual Fund goal is exceeded, funds can be used to support unbudgeted opportunities that periodically come to our administration’s attention.

Yes!  While unrestricted gifts give our university maximum flexibility to use donated funds in the area of greatest need, special restricted gifts are welcome as well.  Common examples of restricted giving include gifts to one of our athletic teams, gifts to special academic programs like the Fitzwater Center, Monadnock Institute, or DiPietro Library, and gifts to cover the cost of specific new equipment or other enhancements to our classrooms.

Donations to the Parents Fund are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by the law in the donor’s state of residence.

Yes!  Donations of any size can be given in honor of someone, such as a student, alumni, parent or grandparent; or in memory of a departed loved one.  Endowed scholarship can be created to perpetually honor or memorialize someone.  Contact our Parents Fund Development Officer (below) for additional information.

The fiscal year at Franklin Pierce runs from July 1 to June 30.  Donations must be completed before June 30 in order to count towards the current Parents Fund cycle.

All our fundraising activities are guided by the highest ethical standards.  We hold ourselves to the Donor Bill of Rights, and encourage feedback from our supporters on how we can better carry out our responsibilities in an efficient and donor-friendly manner.

The easiest way to enhance the impact of your gift is to find out if your employer offers matching gifts for employee donations.  If you don’t know if your employer offers such a benefit, check with your Human Resources office.  Typically, companies have a form that the donor fills out in-part, and then sends in with his donation.  Franklin Pierce then fills out its part, and sends the form to the provided address for processing.

It is easy to make an online donation to Franklin Pierce University!  Just click on the “Donate Now” button on our Parents Fund web page. If you are a first-time online donor, you’ll need to create a donor profile to help us get to know you better.  You can charge your donation to your credit card, we accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.