Annual Fund
The Annual Fund provides the opportunity for alumni and friends of the RVC to contribute to the College and help it to continue to lead the veterinary profession in education, research and clinics. Your participation is key to the Royal Veterinary College remaining a centre of international excellence in both teaching and research, while also attracting the best students, regardless of their financial backgrounds.
The Annual Fund was set up in 2005 following a telephone campaign to over 600 alumni. Our second telephone campaign took place in February 2009 and was hugely successful, receiving donations and pledges of over £39,000. You can read more about the 2009 campaign below.
We want to provide world class facilities fit for the 21st century for the benefit of our students and researchers. By making a donation, you can help our academics to push the boundaries of discovery and change lives through learning. You can direct your gift to a priority of your choice:
- Principal's Priority Fund - This fund has the flexibility to respond to emerging opportunities as they develop. Budgets are always tight and we cannot always foresee how opportunities will arise to make those investments that could make a big difference. This fund enables us to react quickly, as we identify new ways to improve our students' experience.
- Student Enhancement Fund - This fund supports the development of the learning and social environment on campus by providing additional educational or recreational resources. Read more about how the Student Enhancement Fund will help our students.
- Alumni Scholarship Fund - Gifts to this fund will support a wide range of student awards, including scholarships and bursaries, relieving some financial pressure from our students. Read more about how the Alumni Scholarship Fund will help our students.
- Hospital Development Fund - This fund supports the College’s hospitals in caring for their patients and produce graduates of the highest calibre. Read more about how the Hospital Development Fund will help our students and patients.
- The LIVE Centre Fund - is a special fund we are running for this year. It supports the training of our veterinary students and helps to develop their communication skills, clinical reasoning and practical clinical skills. Donations to the LIVE centre will help us to continue to research and develop new approaches to learning within the profession. Read more about how the LIVE Centre Fund will help our students.
If you are able to support the Annual Fund or one of its sub-funds we would be extremely grateful. To find out how to donate, visit our donation page.
To learn more about the Annual Fund, please read our leaflet.
How your donations have helped
Your generosity has made a remarkable contribution to College life, widening access and supporting departments, as well as promoting activities which enhance the student experience. Please click here to read about how your donations have helped.
Telephone Campaigns
Our telephone campaigns are not just about attracting gifts. We also want to develop and maintain the relationship between alumni, current students and the College. Our 2005 and 2009 campaigns have raised over £74,000 (in gifts and pledges).
One of the most personal ways of contacting our graduates is by telephone. The campaigns enable us to contact as many graduates as possible individually and update them on the fundraising progress the University has made since the Annual Fund was set up in 2005. We also use the opportunity to pass on information regarding current developments here on campus and about other news or events.
These phone calls not only raise awareness of the Annual Fund but also build and strengthen the relationship that we have with our alumni, providing the chance for graduates to ask the caller any questions that they may have about The Royal Veterinary College. The student callers are also able to ask graduates for their opinions on the College and hear personal memories about what the ‘RVC experience’ has meant to them.
We hope that everyone who receives one of these calls enjoys the experience – If you receive a call from an RVC student tell them your views and what you would like to see the Development Office do for you as one of our Alumni.
2009 Campaign
In February 2009, a team of enthusiastic students telephoned and spoke with over 800 Royal Veterinary College alumni to ask for their support towards the Annual Fund and to pass on information regarding current developments here at the RVC. Thanks to the kindness of our alumni the Annual Fund has received donations and pledges of over £39,000 (including Gift Aid) to date.
Donations to the Annual Fund make a huge difference to the lives of our students. Donors were able to choose to direct their gifts to a variety of funds, as listed above.
As well as sharing stories, alumni were also keen to share job contacts and careers advice with the students and to offer EMS placements. The callers were also able to hear personal memories from alumni and they gained an appreciation of their predecessors’ diverse experiences over the past 60 years!
Claire McConnell, a 4th year BVetMed student said “Being a student caller for the alumni telephone campaign was good fun. I spoke to so many different people and it was nice finding out about what life at the RVC used to be like and how it’s changed over the years. I also got many good tips for passing finals and looking for my first job!”
We would like to thank all alumni that took part and for their generosity in helping our current and future students. As well as being able to claim Gift Aid on many of your donations we are also able to claim an extra £1 from every £3 donated to us until 2011, thanks to a recent Government Matched Funding scheme, making an even bigger difference to the RVC students!
