Giving Societies
Each year, thousand of alumni, parents and friends show their support for Linfield by making a gift to the college. These gifts support student scholarships, facility and technology improvements and faculty recruitment and development. Generous donations from Linfield supporters ensure all students have access to a top-notch liberal arts education in a close-knit academic community.
Linfield is grateful for gifts of all amounts, and recognizes our donors in many ways. Click the following links to learn more about recognition opportunities.
Rising Alumni President's Circle
The President's Circle was founded to recognize those special alumni, parents and friends whose annual support of Linfield totals $1,000 or more during the college's fiscal year. All gifts (either to designated funds or to the Linfield Fund) count toward membership in the President’s Circle.
As an investment in Linfield, President’s Circle gifts enhance the value and reputation of each Linfield degree. With your gift at the President’s Circle level, you support programs and opportunities that make Linfield great. Whether used for academics, scholarships, athletics, artistic and cultural programming or other areas of financial need, President’s Circle donors enrich the Linfield experience.
President's Circle members receive exclusive benefits, along with the gratitude of Linfield College trustees, alumni, faculty, students and staff, including:
- Invitations to special annual events with President Thomas L. Hellie
- Networking opportunities with fellow members of the President’s Circle
- A distinctive oak leaf pin
- Recognition in Linfield's Honor Roll of Donors (both print and interactive)
- Linfield magazine
The President’s Circle is guided by a team of dedicated volunteer leaders who partner with College Relations staff to increase membership. Each volunteer lends their talents and shows their affection for Linfield to help broaden the impact of President’s Circle-level giving. Meet the President's Circle Leadership Team.
To learn more about joining the President’s Circle, contact Kathryn Karr ’88 by email or at 503-883-2548.
Trustees’ Circle
The Trustees’ Circle was created to recognize those donors who make annual leadership gifts to Linfield College at the $10,000 level and above. Leadership giving from individuals at the Trustees’ Circle level is of critical importance to Linfield College. In fact, nearly 80% of the gifts made in 2009-10 came from gifts and grants of $10,000 or more.
To learn more about how you can help provide state-of-the-art resources, award-winning faculty and hands-on learning opportunities for today’s Linfield students by making a gift of $10,000 or more, please contact Bruce Wyatt, Vice President for College Relations, by email or at 503-883-2495.
Trustees’ Circle members receive exclusive benefits, along with the gratitude of Linfield College trustees, alumni, faculty, students and staff. Benefits include:
- Invitation to a special annual event open only to Trustees’ Circle members
- Invitation to a special annual event open to members of the President’s Circle and Trustees’ Circle
- A distinctive oak leaf pin
- Recognition in Linfield’s Honor Roll of Donors (both print and interactive)
Loyalty Society
“The abiding story that is Linfield College derives from the passionate commitment of those who have created and sustained it over the decades.” ~Marvin Henberg, Inspired Pragmatism: An Illustrated History of Linfield College, 2007
Our alumni, parents and friends often make gifts to Linfield year after year – in fact, annual contributions are the backbone of our giving program. In 2010, the Linfield Loyalty Society was launched to recognize our most faithful donors.
The Loyalty Society honors donors who have made personal gifts for three or more consecutive fiscal years including the current fiscal year. The Loyalty Society recognizes this loyalty without regard to the amount of giving; indeed, every gift counts. Members proudly display the Loyalty Society decal and are specially identified in Linfield’s annual honor roll of donors by a symbol (§) next to their names.
Membership in the Loyalty Society is maintained each fiscal year by making a personal gift to Linfield College.
To view your recent giving history, search our electronic Honor Roll of Donors. If you have questions about the Loyalty Society, contact Christina Diss, director of annual giving, by email or at 503-883-2282.
Lifetime Giving Societies
In 2007, at the launch of Linfield’s sesquicentennial year, Linfield’s Board of Trustees established two giving societies to honor donors whose generous, steady and visionary gifts represent “lifetime” achievements.
The Samuel and Mahala Cozine Society recognizes cumulative lifetime giving by individuals at the foundational level of $150,000 or more. Samuel Cozine served for many years in the mid-19th century as a trustee when Linfield was known as McMinnville College. The Cozines donated land to the college which includes the Oak Grove, the site for Pioneer Hall and, of course, Cozine Creek.
The Frances Eleanor Ross and the Rev. George Fisher Linfield Society recognizes cumulative lifetime giving by individuals at the transformational level of $1,500,000 or more. The gift of real estate from Frances Linfield in 1922 was the largest individual gift to Linfield at that time and continued to provide income to the college as properties were sold through the 1940s. Coming at a critical juncture in the college’s history, the gift renewed institutional confidence and gave Linfield College its name.
Members of Linfield’s lifetime giving societies know that their commitment to advancing knowledge at Linfield also advances the common good. The knowledge and experiences that start here do not stop here – our faculty, students and alumni share their discoveries and expertise with their local communities and the larger world.
Founders’ Society
Individuals who make a planned gift to Linfield, either through a bequest in a will or living trust or a remainder designation in a life-income gift, retirement plan or life insurance policy, are recognized through membership in the Linfield College Founders' Society.
The Founders’ Society was created so that the college could offer its thanks during the lifetimes of the many generous individuals who make these gifts from their life’s work through any of the many gift plans. The most common method of securing membership in the Founders’ Society is by making Linfield a beneficiary of your estate. You don’t have to be wealthy to be able to make a significant impact on the future of Linfield through an estate gift. Over the last ten years, estate gifts have provided an average of $1.6 million in annual gift revenue to Linfield. With the bulk of these gifts designated for the college’s endowment, these gifts strengthen Linfield’s stature as a leading, small liberal arts college for generations to come.
Founders’ Society members are invited to and recognized during an annual luncheon held during Homecoming weekend in the fall, and their names are listed in Linfield’s Honor Roll of Donors.
If you've already completed a gift plan that includes Linfield, but haven't yet notified anyone at the college about it, please contact Craig Haisch, director of philanthropic planning, by email or at 503-883-2675 so that we can thank you for helping strengthen the Linfield experience.