Message From VP

Fundraising Priorities

Thank you for your interest in supporting the teaching, community service, and research activities at Bethlehem University in the Holy Land.  Your support is needed and welcomed for a number areas, including construction, community focused research, student activities, technology updating, library resources, community service activities, honoring a faculty member, and supporting student scholarships, etc.  The choice of how your donation will be used is yours to make.  Here are some current funding needs for your consideration:

Unrestricted giving: Simply put, an unrestricted gift is the most important contribution you can make to Bethlehem University. Unrestricted gifts help support the greatest needs of the University, sustaining the depth and breadth of our academic and spiritual endeavors as well as out outreach services to the community. Your unrestricted gift to Bethlehem University enables the administration, faculty, and staff to be able to quickly respond to emerging opportunities and needs.

Endowment: Are you interested in having your gift support current needs and also continue to support future needs?  Gifts to the endowment are a way that you can make a long-lasting impact in your support of Bethlehem University.  Your gift to an endowment fund will be invested with other funds so that each and every year into the future, the interest from the investment of your gift will support your area of interest at Bethlehem University.

Chapel Support: Each day of the academic year, for students, faculty, staff, and neighbors the Catholic Mass is celebrated on the campus of Bethlehem University in the Holy Land in the Chapel of the Divine Child. Gifts to support the Chapel help provide prayer missals and song books $2,000), and the upkeep of vestments, liturgical vessels, and the Chapel ($3,000).

Scholarships: Central to the mission of Bethlehem University is to provide access to higher education for the people of Palestine. Without substantial financial assistance (endowed and annual scholarships), many people could not access the high quality education offered at Bethlehem University.

• Endowed Scholarship: For a gift totaling $75,000 (payable over time) you can fully fund a permanent and perpetual named endowed scholarship. The earnings from the invested endowed gift are used each year to award your scholarship each year into the future to deserving students. An initial gift of $30,000 can establish a base for a permanent endowed scholarship.
• Annual Scholarship: A minimum contribution of $4,000 provides an annual named scholarship which supports the tuition and other educational costs. Donors generally make a commitment to provide $4,000 per year for at least three or four years, as degree programs are four-year programs.
• General Scholarship: A donor who wishes to make a contribution to support the Bethlehem University General Scholarship Fund, but prefers not to establish a named annual or an endowed scholarship as described above, may make a gift of any amount to the Bethlehem University General Scholarship Fund.

Career Development: Bethlehem University is committed to enhancing opportunities for student and faculty success. Gifts to support travel abroad programs, internships, professional development workshops, entrepreneurial start-ups and travel to conferences will provide students and faculty the opportunities necessary for lifelong lessons and memories that can shape their careers.

• Annual Career Fair for students and graduates: $10,000
• To enhance civic engagement and service learning programs: $22,000
• Faculty or Student travel to an academic conference: $2,500

Research: At Bethlehem University, teaching, research and outreach are woven together. We believe the best way to enhance our students’ educations is through practical experience. Our students participate in faculty-led research. Through these hand-on programs, students tackle real-world problems and build confidence. Gifts made in support of research projects and equipment, which can ran from thousands to millions of dollars, will expand experiential learning opportunities and will help prepare tomorrow’s leaders.

• Faculty of Science
  • Science Equipment: $1,000,000
  • Equipment to generate liquid nitrogen in the Biology Department: $20,000
  • Mathematics Learning Center to provide tutoring and resources for the teaching and learning of math: $5,000
  • One tank of nitrogen for teaching and research: $50
• Faculty of Nursing
  • Develop a neonatal nursing program to methodically meet the basic health care needs of the Palestinian people: $70,000
  • Equipment for first-year basic life support training: $15,000
  • Equipment for second-year basic nursing and first aid skills: $200,000
  • Equipment for third-year training: $25,000
  • Equipment for fourth-year trauma training: $11,000
  • Equipment for OB/GYN nursing courses: $90,000
  • Equipment for pediatric and neonatal nursing track: $55,000
  • Simulators: $650,000

Alumni: Through effective communication, programs and events, we seek to maintain a life-long association with each of our graduates by creating opportunities to stay in touch with Bethlehem University and each other.

• Help us connect with our alumni: Established in 1973, Bethlehem University has nearly 14,000 alumni worldwide, with an annual enrollment of some 3,000 students. Thus far there has been little data collection on the status and role of the graduates of the University, the impact of the University in their lives, and their impact on society. Such research would be of significant value to assess the academic curriculum. Additionally, this research would be of value to the Alumni Relations Offices in their efforts to nurture and solicit financial support from alumni. A one-time start-up gift of $40,000 followed by a gift of $20,000 per year for two years ($80,000 total) to support a technical database to collect and organize the information learned, and full-time academic research personnel and student workers are essential to conduct this research.