Temple’s $350 million campaign drive received an unexpected boost last Thursday when officials received an anonymously-sent envelope with a donation for $5 million.
Unlike typical anonymous donations, even the university has no idea who the sender is.
The money came in the form of two checks for $1 million and $4 million and a letter requesting that the bulk of the money be used for scholarships for women and minorities, said university spokesman Ray Betzner. The $1 million is to be used at the university’s discretion.
“What’s unusual about this case is that these gifts were sent without any prior notice, came in the regular mail with a 41 cent stamp, were sent to annual fund director, and it’s a tremendous amount of dollars,” Betzner said. “You put all that together and it makes for a very unusual gift.”
How the money will be invested and what the smaller check will go towards will be discussed at the Board of Trustees next meeting on March 11, Betzner said.
Betzner did not disclose any more information about the attached letter’s contents.
The donation comes during Temple’s largest fundraising effort in its history, which began in October of last year. Including the $5 million, $285 million has been raised towards the $350 million goal, according to The Associated Press.
Andrew Thompson can be reached at andrew.thompson@temple.edu
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