Making a grand impression

In June 2008 the College launched its first donor club, Imperial 1000.

Imperial 1000 is a club designed to celebrate leadership giving and to honour the generosity of those alumni, staff and friends who are able to make donations of £1,000 or more during a given fiscal year.

“The generosity of our alumni and friends has developed considerably since the inception of the Annual Fund in 2003, and the very establishment of Imperial 1000 is entirely due to the fantastic support the fund receives,” explains the Office of Alumni and Development’s Heather Campbell. “We thought it was only right for us to demonstrate our appreciation to those donors who really lead the way.”

Imperial 1000 is founded on the notion that leadership donors are making a powerful commitment to the creation of greater opportunities for current and future College students, be it through scholarship provision or campus renewal. Together with gifts from all of the Annual Fund’s generous supporters, Imperial 1000 members are making an instant impact on the academic experience of each and every Imperial student and those who follow in their footsteps.

The flagship club currently has almost 70 members. “We are truly delighted that the club has gotten off to such a flying start,” says Heather. “I would like this opportunity to welcome all of our inaugural Imperial 1000 members, and look forward to welcoming many more in the future.”

As a token of the College’s appreciation, members will receive priority booking to alumni events, be assigned a personal contact within the Office of Alumni and Development and will be invited to a special recognition event hosted by Rector, Sir Roy Anderson. In addition, each member of Imperial 1000 will receive an Imperial 1000 pin badge. The College is currently involved with several other UK universities in promoting leadership giving. Each institution will be encouraging their leadership donors to wear their pins for a week in September to celebrate philanthropy in higher education.

In order to encourage the concept of leadership early, those alumni who graduated from the College within the last decade are eligible for membership after making gifts totalling £500 or more during the fiscal year. Those donors eligible for the Gift Aid tax relief scheme can also gain membership at a reduced rate as the College are able to claim Gift Aid on each of their donations.

If you would like to find out more about Imperial 1000, or how you can become a member, please contact the Individual Giving Team on +44 (0)20 7594 2032 or email supporting@imperial.ac.uk.