Nichols School Surpasses $60,000,000 All iN Campaign Goal

Campaign Co-chairs Kristan C. Andersen of Buffalo, NY and Nelson S. Walsh, of New York, NY -  both alumni and members of Nichols’ Class of 1980 described the road from vision to completion.

“When we started in 2018, we set an overall goal of $35 million for a comprehensive campaign: $17 million to secure and expand the School’s financial aid program; $7 million to increase endowed support for faculty salaries, professional development and innovative curriculum; $4 million to create a Student Commons building on campus; and $6 million for the Nichols Fund in support of day-to-day operations of Nichols School.” stated Walsh. “By 2021, it became clear that the Nichols Community was indeed “All iN” in support of these priorities and the overall goal was expanded to $60 million.”

“We are thrilled to report that as of today, Nichols has received $66.3 million in commitments that will have a significant impact on the lives of countless students and faculty and will secure the future of Nichols School for generations to come.” said Andersen.

Through the efforts of the All iN Campaign, Nichols has raised over $47 million for student support including the Chispa Scholarship Program, the Lytle Scholarship Program expansion, the creation of the Gelman Scholars Program, the Gisel Family Scholarship, Walsh Family Scholarship, Duffy Family Scholarship, 1892 Scholarship, Richard G. Stratton Memorial Scholarship, and many additional generous gifts to the overall financial aid program at Nichols School.
 
Additionally, transformational gifts were received in support of teaching and learning including the Dr. Lewis F. McLean ’51 Science Department Endowed Chair and the Richard C. Osborne ‘61 STEM Fund, the Wadsworth Family Fund for the Arts, Nichols’ Academic Enrichment Center, the Digital Foreign Language Lab, the Class of 1961 Student Commons, the Jacobs Scholars Program, an exciting Faculty Appreciation Award and so much more.

Head of Nichols School, Chris Burner explained “Major campaigns are about securing the future. This campaign was focused largely on building our endowment. When we started the All iN Campaign in 2018 our endowment was $28.5M. Today the Nichols School Endowment is $49M and when the commitments from this campaign are fully realized our endowment will be almost $74M providing millions of dollars each year in support of Nichols’ faculty, programs and most importantly, our current and future students. This is a true testament to the passion and generosity of the Nichols community!”

“More than 50% of the commitments have been received and are currently benefitting our students, faculty and programs”, said Burner. “The remaining funds will come to Nichols over time through multi-year pledges and deferred gifts.”

When asked “What’s next?”, Burner replied “Nichols School recently completed a new strategic plan setting goals and aspirations for the next 5-10 years. We’ve done a remarkable job expanding support for our students and our faculty through the efforts of All iN. Our next campaign will focus on providing them with the very best facilities for teaching and learning.

“We are excited to celebrate the enormous success of the All iN Campaign. Nichols is a remarkable school with an incredible alumni and parent community. Thousands of lives will be changed because of the generosity and passion demonstrated by the more than 500 donors who stepped up in support of this campaign.” stated Assistant Head of School for Advancement, Leslie Garcia. “To remain the preeminent educational institution in WNY we must always be thinking about the future. We look forward to the next chapter in the philanthropic history of Nichols School.”