Peggy Fisher (pictured) says Drake University has been very good to her. It brought her to Des Moines. (Like a lot of Drake students, she’s from the Chicago suburbs.) It got her interested in women’s basketball – she and husband Larry Stelter are regular game attendees. It got her involved with a sorority (Delta Gamma) where she met lifelong friends. And it got her involved in being a presence in the Drake community, as she is just now set to end her 16th year as a trustee of the school.
Now Fisher and Stelter are returning the goodness in the form of a gift of $3.25 million to Drake’s new capital campaign called "The Ones: Drake’s Campaign for the Brave & Bold." It is an ambitious $225 million effort to move Drake forward and prepare its students to lead and position graduates as ones who “create solutions.”
Some of those solutions have already been launched with an early “quiet phase” rollout of the capital campaign that has raised $107 million of the total effort. That includes funding the Gregory and Suzie Glazer Burt Boys & Girls Club, which is up and running on the campus and serves neighborhood youths. Also rolled out and already accepting students is John Dee Bright College, which offers two-year associate degrees designed to appeal to students who Drake said might not otherwise have considered it to be their collegiate home. Those classes started last fall in renovated space in Meredith Hall.
As a trustee of Drake, Fisher said there has been an expectation that with that appointment she should financially support Drake. She has blown clear through that, figuring that she has supported Drake for 27 consecutive years. It’s part of her overall commitment to charitable giving, which leans heavily on education but also includes children and animals. (One of her favorites is the Wildcat Sanctuary, which provides a refuge for lions, tigers and other cats in Sandstone, Minnesota.)
But as of now, Drake rules. “My history’s at Drake,” Fisher said of her attachment to the school. “I feel like I literally grew up at Drake.”
It’s not uncommon for a few donors to make outsized gifts to capital campaigns, perhaps during that quiet period, followed by a wider, public appeal for funding. That’s what has happened here, with support from Fisher and Stelter, and it allows them to coax others to come on board.
“I want to lead by example,” said Fisher. Clearly, she is.
Current Charitable Capital Campaigns in Greater Des Moines
BY STEVE DINNEN
If you live in or near Des Moines, or have ties to the community, there’s a pretty good chance your phone will ring, or a letter will arrive, asking for financial support for a number of charitable organizations that strive to make this town a better place to live.
Drake University is at the top of the current capital campaign chart, with its $225 million “The Ones: Drake’s Campaign for the Brave & Bold” that was rolled out last fall. That came right around the time that the Des Moines Art Center launched an effort to raise $11 million. And they were joined by Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO), which has a $15 million campaign underway. Urban Dreams is in the midst of a $1 million capital campaign. And the Des Moines Area Religious Council is looking for $5.6 million. The Art Center (75 years) and DMMO (50 years) tied their campaigns to anniversaries. Urban Dreams and DMARC are raising money for new buildings. DMARC, which operates food pantries in the area, said it has maxed out on its current facilities and wants a former grocery store on Army Post Road to give it more room for food preparation. Others certainly will follow. They’re all worthy causes.
Why Most Student Borrowers Won't Get Loans Forgiven
BY ZACH FRIEDMAN FOR FORBES.COM
Here’s a surprising reality: Most student loan borrowers won’t get student loan forgiveness. Here’s what you need to know — and what it means for your student loans.
It’s not every day that the words “income-driven repayment plans” and “danger” are used in the same sentence. At first glance, income-driven repayment plans are a rather benign path to student loan repayment and student loan forgiveness. However, a surprising new report warns student loan borrowers to beware of the dangers of student loan forgiveness. The shocking reality: Don’t expect student loan forgiveness from income-driven repayment plans. Strikingly, income-driven repayment promise to forgive student loans, but most borrowers won’t get any student loan forgiveness — despite their efforts. READ MORE.
Thinking of Retiring? How to Tell if You're Ready
BY LIZ WESTON FOR NERDWALLET
Many people don’t have much choice about when they retire. Illness, job loss or caretaking responsibilities push them out of the labor force, ready or not. But some people have the opposite problem: They do have a choice, and yet they can’t quite bring themselves to quit working.
Some love what they do and never want to retire. Others are paralyzed by fear of the unknown, financial planners say. They may worry about living without a paycheck, spending down the money they worked so hard to save or figuring out how to structure their days in the absence of a job.
“A lot of the people I see are financially ready before they’re emotionally ready,” says Cathy Gearig, a certified financial planner in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
If you’re struggling, here are three signs you may be ready to retire. READ MORE.
