October 5, 2000

Ramapo College Foundation Receives Prestigious Award

(Mahwah) -- Ramapo College of New Jersey was an award winner in the prestigious CASE 2000 Circle of Excellence Awards Program in Educational Fund-Raising. The award honors superior fund-raising programs across the country for Overall Fund-Raising Performance or Overall Fund-Raising Improvement. As an added distinction, Ramapo was the only public liberal arts college in the United States to be recognized in the category of Overall Fund-Raising Improvement and the only New Jersey institution of higher learning to be named to CASE's Circle of Excellence For Educational Fund-Raising.

CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, has paid tribute to programs of excellence since 1959. A highly competitive and sought after honor, the awards drew over 1,200 entries this year. Ramapo was among 57 colleges or universities honored in all categories, and one of only 27 chosen for overall fund-raising improvement.

"It is a great honor for our board, president, advancement staff and donors to be recognized with this award," explained Cathleen Davey, vice president for Institutional Advancement and executive director of the Ramapo College Foundation. The judges based their decisions on a multitude of factors: the pattern of growth in total support over three years; evaluation of what contributed to the total support figure; overall breadth in program areas; pattern of growth in each program area; pattern of donor growth among alumni and individual donors; and the impact of the 12 largest gifts on total support.

The award was presented to Davey at CASE's International Assembly at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Canada on July 14.