Sweet Briar College, a private all-women’s liberal arts institution with a student body of fewer than 600, recently completed a capital campaign in which it raised $110,951,200.

Our Campaign For Her World was publicly announced in October 2002 and concluded on June 30, 2006, after surpassing its original goal of $102 million.

“A turning point occurred last fall when we received a challenge gift of two million dollars unrestricted that would come to the College if we met the campaign goal,” said Heidi McCrory, vice president for development. “The challenge gift energized the board of directors and the entire campus community.”

Donors responded. The College received 236 gifts of $50,000 or more, raising an average of $190,019 per student during the campaign. Sweet Briar alumnae clearly demonstrated their commitment to the school’s future with a participation rate of 87 percent.

The result is one of the largest completed campaigns in Virginia among undergraduate institutions and among women’s colleges nationwide.

Another significant figure is the campaign’s percentage of future gift intentions. Such gifts will positively impact the College for generations to come, said McCrory, who recently was promoted from associate vice president for development. In Our Campaign For Her World, planned gifts from bequests, trusts and charitable gift annuities make up 30 percent of the total, meeting both the College’s goal and the national average.

“In addition to the positive impact of the actual dollars raised, the campaign is important because it is proof that Sweet Briar alumnae, the largest contributors to the campaign, are proud they came to Sweet Briar and are engaged in the life of the College as visionary philanthropists,” said Elisabeth S. Muhlenfeld, president of Sweet Briar.

The campaign’s impact on SBC’s 3,250-acre campus and its students was felt as early as 2002 when a student commons complex was built. More recently, a former working dairy was converted into the Studio Arts Farm and a water treatment plant became a nature center and environmental laboratory. Other upgrades include new and refurbished tennis courts, expanded riding facilities and improvements to the Babcock Fine Arts Center facilities.

In addition, Sweet Briar also enriched existing academic programs and established new curricula in environmental studies, economics and business management, engineering and fine arts.

Campaign gifts will support student scholarships and financial aid, general operating expenses, and endowed scholarships and funds. Plans are under way for another top priority, a fitness and athletic center, as well as for renovation of Cochran Library. Fund-raising continues for the athletic complex, which will include new construction and renovation of the existing gym.

Ivana Pelnar-Zaiko, who led the effort as vice president for development until retiring on June 30, said that throughout the campaign, Sweet Briar’s students were a decisive factor in allocating the funds.

“Every aspect of the campaign was aimed at maximizing student experience,” she said. “For example, the first bricks-and-mortar project completed in the campaign was chosen because students named it as a number one priority.”