In order to raise money to support financial aid programs, improve campus facilities and enhance the academic experience on the Hill, President William D. Adams launched "Reaching the World: A Campaign for Colby" in 2005. Now, just five years later, the College has received a total of $376 million in donations and pledges, exceeding its original goal by $6 million.

Adams announced the campaign's success this past summer in an email to the College community, stating that "each gift was an expression of support for the College and for our students, and we are grateful to all 25,000-plus members of the Colby community-alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the College-who participated in this effort."

Since the start of the campaign, the College's endowment has grown by nearly $50 million, with financial aid grants awarded to 40 percent of students.

Other contributors include Peter and Paula Lunder, philanthropists with strong ties to the College. The Lunders donated work created by prominent artists such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keefe to the College. The art will be displayed in a 26,000 square-foot gallery space to be completed in 2013, that is made possible by gifts from the Harold Alfond Foundation. This space is to be completed in 2015.

Additionally, Harold Alfond, who died in 2007, was a major contributor to the College for many years. His wife, Dorothy Levine Alfond, graduated from the College in 1938, and their son Bill followed suit, graduating in 1972. Bill remains on the board of trustees, and their other son Ted works on the Museum of Art Board of Governors. His daughter, Jenna Alfond Seeman '92, still is connected to the College.