Development

When institutions conclude major fundraising campaigns, the conventional wisdom goes, it is not unusual for their extended community of supporters to take a breather.

Well, Teachers College (thankfully!) has never been bound by conventional wisdom – and that’s just as true of our fundraising as it is of our research, teaching and community engagement. 

Case in point: During fiscal year 2019 — the year after we concluded our record-breaking Where the Future Comes First campaign — TC raised $44 million, one of its most successful fundraising years ever, surpassing many of the campaign years. To cite just a few measures: Membership in the College's three giving societies — the John Dewey Circle, the Maxine Greene Society, and the Grace Dodge Society — reached all-time highs. And giving from individuals to all areas of the College grew by 16 percent.

There are two primary reasons for these achievements:

First, we have a great community of devoted, long-time supporters who believe in the importance of what we do and continue to help us do it. Our stalwart benefactors include:

• Trustee Emeritus Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe. The Jaffes have generously funded TC’s Peace Corps Fellows Program for the past 30 years and supported more than 750 returning Peace Corps veterans to serve as Peace Corps Fellows commited to teaching in high-need New York City schools;
• Trustee Joyce B. Cowin (M.A. ’52). Joyce’s continuing generosity has enabled us to undertake an ongoing national expansion of the Cowin Financial Literacy Project, which she created to equip teachers with case studies and other tools to help high school students understand concepts such as savings, investing, budgeting, financial planning, credit, risk, consumption, and diversification;
• Ron Saltz (Ed.D. ’11, M.Ed. ’95, M.A. ’92). Year after year, Ron has been among the leading donors to the TC Annual Fund. The Fund is the primary connection point for TC donors of all means and provides the College with money that can be applied to any opportunity or need;
• Jody Gottfried Arnhold (M.A. ’73) and her husband, John Arnhold. A generous gift from the Arnholds in 2016 established TC’s unique doctoral program in dance education. This year, the Arnholds followed up with an even larger gift that created TC’s Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy, & Leadership, which aims to eliminate disparities in the availability of high-quality dance education.
• TC Trustee Patricia Green (M.A. ’63). The Patricia Green Endowed Scholarship, which Pat created in 2013, has funded 26 of our most promising master’s and doctoral students across six of TC’s academic departments. Past recipients are making their mark as special education teachers, as psychotherapists, and, in one case, as an art therapist to women and children in war-torn countries. With Pat contributing an additional gift this past year, that number will continue to grow. 

And second, Teachers College continues to be supported by government funders and major foundations that recognize the pioneering work of our faculty in many areas, including early childhood education and development, community college student completion rates, global mental health, nutrition, and food education and policy.

You’ll not only find many stories below about this funded work, but also links throughout the 2019 TC Annual Report to stories that attest to the impact of investing in the College. TC is fortunate to have a devoted family of extraordinarily committed supporters. We thank you for believing in our work and our vision for a brighter future — a future we hope to continue building with all of you.