Inspiring loyalty

Our thanks to those who make a monthly, quarterly or annual gift to Mansfield

‘I can’t adequately express how proud I am to be part of the College’s community, and especially of the way the College has reached out to new constituencies of students from such a wide variety of circumstances. My financial contribution is because I wanted a way of showing my pride and my support of the many ways Mansfield is making the University, the nation, and the world a better place.’

Glenn Holland (Theology, 1979)

Your donations to Mansfield: having an impact now and for years to come

The last academic year was very different. Events were online and our annual Telethon was postponed. Yet, this did not stop our community from doing something incredible for College: raising more funds than we have for the previous three years.

In October 2020, we held our first Community Week and Giving Day – just days before another national lockdown was announced. It was a time to celebrate our College community, bring everyone together – no matter where in the world they were – and do something for Mansfield students. Students took part in varied community-building challenges and activities such as origami and carving pumpkins. Alumni made Mansfield-themed bakes at home and followed the week on Mansfield’s social media channels. Though participants donned their masks, dutifully sanitised hands and kept a safe distance, it felt like for the first time since the pandemic hit there was excitement in the air. And, through the various challenges – including running 1,886 laps of the Quad (to celebrate our founding year) and a 12-hour row – as well as generous match-funding from the Mansfield Development Board, alumni raised just over £70,000 in support of College’s top priorities. Thank you for your outstanding contributions.

Looking forward, we aim to increase our alumni participation figure (the percentage who support their College) to 15% in the coming years (it is currently 12%) – to match the average across the Oxford colleges. Not everyone can make a ‘major’ gift, but every supporter gets us closer to this goal. And our regular contributors have built us a strong foundation for future growth.

Sara’s story

‘Being JCR President, I’ve really seen how donations are helping students. I’m from a low-income background so it was so helpful for me to use the Student Support Fund to pay for some of my books. I have friends who have used it to help them pay for accommodation during vac res, so they could have a suitable place to study. Support like this, thanks to alumni, makes everyone feel on equal ground. I think that’s incredibly important.’

Sara Cepele (Jurisprudence, 2019)

Key stats from the year

393

big thank yous to our regular supporters

30%

of our UK undergraduate offerholders are from the most disadvantaged group by Oxford’s measures

34%

of our UK undergraduates are first in their family to go to university

95%

of our UK undergraduates come from nonselective state schools

100

Access Ambassadors encourage students to apply to Mansfield

277

regular supporters giving every year for at least the last five years