When Bates President Donald W. Harward arrived at Bates in 1989, he was faced with a challenge: How could Bates sustain its qualities and elevate its national reputation in the face of increasing competition from traditional peers as well as public institutions? A year of strategic planning discussions at Bates led to an inescapable conclusion: Bates needed to pursue a major fundraising effort.
Between 1991 and 1996, the College engaged in its third major campaign, raising $59,344,922 and exceeding its $50 million goal. The campaign recorded 15 gifts of $1 million or more and secured more than $31.6 million in gifts to the endowment. Over five years, the Annual Fund (now the Bates Fund) nearly doubled, to $2 million.
As national chair of The Bates Campaign, Helen A. Papaioanou '49 provided invaluable leadership, investing enormous time and effort to insure the campaign’s success. In the final campaign report, she thanked members of the Bates community for their participation. “A deep, personal devotion to our College has always been a hallmark of the Bates community," she said. "With the success of The Bates Campaign: Building the Future, we have begun a new era of even greater commitment to Bates….”
Joining Papaioanou as campaign leaders were Burton M. Harris '59, P'89, national vice chair; Lynn Willsey '54, P'79, P'81, P'89, national chair for major gifts; and James L. Moody Jr. '53, chair of the Board of Fellows (now Board of Trustees). James F. Callahan Jr. '65 and David Parmelee '64, P'94, P'04 each chaired the Annual Alumni Fund during the campaign, and E. Ward and Carolyn Smith P'91 served as leaders of the Parents Annual Fund (now part of the Bates Fund).
A campaign milestone in 1993 was the pledge, by James '53 and the late Jean Pratt Moody, of $1 million toward the construction of a new residential village adjacent to Garcelon Field, which ultimately named the Moody House in their honor. As the first living donors to make a gift of $1 million to Bates, the Moodys helped to raise the sights of prospective campaign donors and created a paradigm shift in Bates fundraising. By the end of the campaign, 14 donors had joined the Moodys in pledging $1 million or more.
Other lead donors included:
- Ralph T. Perry '51 and Joan Holmes Perry '51, who established the Joan Holmes and Ralph T. Perry Scholarship Fund for Maine students who have "exhibited perseverance in achieving...goals."
- Euterpe Boukis Dukakis '25, who created the Euterpe B. Dukakis Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies.
- Henry J. "Jack" Keigwin '59 and Beverly Keigwin P'86, whose gifts helped to support major landscaping projects and the restoration of Lake Andrews.
- Trustee Clark A. Griffith '53 and Geraldine Griffith, who established the Clark A. Griffith Professor in Environmental Studies at Bates College.
The total College endowment grew to $122 million by the end of the campaign, helping to lower Bates’ fee dependency to 76 percent. In addition to giving the endowment a boost, campaign donors supported the current operating budget through $16 million in gifts to the Annual Alumni Fund and Parents Annual Fund, and gave $11.6 million to the capital budget for construction of new facilities.
Of the $59.3 million total, more than one third came from planned gifts, including $13.7 million in realized bequests and $7 million in gifts in exchange for life-income arrangements. In 1995, Bates friends John and Linda Shortridge donated to Bates their coastal property in Phippsburg, adjacent to the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, which is now the Bates College Coastal Center at Shortridge.
To help the campaign past the finish line, 29 challengers pooled $3.8 million in potential gifts in early 1996. They offered to match dollar for dollar, all new and increased gifts and pledges to Bates made by the conclusion of the campaign. The Bates community donated $4.7 million, far exceeding the matching pool, for a total fundraising impact of over $8.5 million.
