Members of WPI’s leadership giving societies have an enormous impact on the university. Through their generous annual and lifetime gifts, these donors help WPI realize the philanthropic promise of its alumni and friends and assist the university in achieving its ambitious goals. They also lead the way in strengthening WPI’s distinctive, forward-looking education that prepares our outstanding students for leadership in many fields of endeavor and fulfillment in all walks of life.
WPI’s recognition societies include the 1865 Society, Presidential Founders, President’s Circle, and the Alden Society.
The 1865 Society recognizes Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s most generous benefactors, those who have contributed $1 million or more to advance the noble mission of this remarkable university. Like WPI founders Ichabod Washburn and John Boynton, members of the 1865 Society are deeply committed to educating future generations of leaders in engineering and science who have the knowledge and wisdom to make a positive difference in the world.
There are currently 65 members of the 1865 Society. Of these, 23 are individuals, 10 are foundations and other organizations, 13 are corporations, and 19 are deceased. Their names are engraved on a special monument located outside the Campus Center. The many students, faculty, staff, and visitors who pass by this monument every day are reminded of the generosity of these donors and all that they have made possible at WPI. Photos of the monument and a video of the special event to launch the 1865 Society are available online.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the 1865 Society, please contact Lisa Maizite, assistant vice president for leadership giving, at lmaizite@wpi.edu, +1-508-831-5073.
WPI recognizes with special appreciation and gratitude those benefactors whose desire to share in the continuing development of the university has inspired them to a level of support that equals or exceeds the $100,000 founding gift of John Boynton. These generous friends, both living and deceased, are honored as Presidential Founders of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
If you would like to learn more about the Presidential Founders, please contact Lisa Maizite, assistant vice president for leadership giving, at lmaizite@wpi.edu or +1-508-831-5073.
The President's Circle recognizes and honors alumni, parents, and friends committed to investing in the future of WPI at a leadership level. Today, nearly 400 President's Circle members provide the critical resources necessary each year to advance the mission of WPI. Your investment at the President’s Circle level enables the university to implement curricular innovations, keep the WPI Academic Plan on the cutting edge, and create more opportunities for our deserving students to discover, achieve, and lead.
Corporate matching gift programs can make membership in the President’s Circle more attainable, allowing you to double or even triple your gift to WPI. Contact your company’s Human Resources office for more details on the matching gift process, or check our searchable database for details about your company’s policy.
President's Circle Membership levels:
Benefactor - $50,000 to $99,999
Fellow - $25,000 to $49,999
Patron - $10,000 to $24,999
Ambassador - $5,000 to $9,999
Associate - $2,000 to $4,999
To encourage leadership giving among our youngest alumni, membership in the President’s Circle is an annual gift of $1,000 for graduates out fewer than 10 years. This year, those would be the classes of 2002 to 2011.
Membership is based on the total of an individual’s personal gifts and corporate matching gifts during a single fiscal year. The WPI fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. President’s Circle commitments may be paid at any point during the 12 months, but must be fulfilled by June 30 of each year.
Tuition at WPI currently stands in excess of $38,000. President’s Circle members have a special opportunity to help a deserving student in need meet this expense with a term scholarship. Donors who commit $8,000 annually for a minimum of three consecutive years may fund an annual term scholarship in their own name or in honor of someone else.
To join the President’s Circle today, please call our toll free number, +1-877-WPI-FUND [+1-877-974-3863], or visit our online giving page.
For more information about the President’s Circle, contact Jennifer Gamache, Director of Annual Giving, at jgamache@wpi.edu or +1-508-831-6596.
Named in honor of George I. Alden, one of the early professors at the university and one of WPI’s greatest benefactors, the Alden Society was established to recognize all deferred gifts and bequest intentions. The Alden Society enables WPI to thank—during their lifetimes—those individuals who have already given a life-income gift, a deferred gift arrangement, and/or who plan to make a gift to WPI in their will.
Membership in the Alden Society includes all of the original charter members and is also open to other alumni, parents, and friends who choose to make a planned gift to WPI. Such commitments may take the form of a transfer of cash or stock to a gift annuity fund, a pooled income fund, the creation of a charitable remainder trust, naming WPI a beneficiary of a retirement plan, creating a retained life estate, and/or through specific inclusion in a will or living trust.
WPI was fortunate to have the opportunity to express its gratitude to George Alden during his lifetime. The Alden Society affords WPI the chance to share its appreciation with a new generation of benefactors. To learn more, please visit the Alden Society website or contact the Office of Planned Giving at +1-508-831-6001.
