May 17 was no ordinary Tuesday on the campus of Seward County Community College. Instead, it was a day to make a difference as the SCCC Foundation staged its first-ever Giving Day, raising $22,225 in just 24 hours.
“The difference one day can make is substantial,” said Sarah Thompson, who works in the SCCC Office of Development as associate Director of annual giving and alumni engagement. “The difference one gift can make is life changing. Together, one gift at a time, we can make a difference.”
Thompson and SCCC Chief Development Officer Kyle Woodrow set the bar high with a one-day goal of $30,000. While the final tally fell short of that number, the Foundation staff felt wholly positive about the outcome.
“A whopping 52 percent of what we raised came from employees,” Thompson said. “We are overwhelmed with the love and staunch support our faculty and staff, alumni, students, communities and friends give to SCCC.”
Woodrow noted that giving started at the administrative level.
“To help us reach our goal, President Brad Bennett and his family committed a matching gift of $5,000 towards the AllSaints Fund for the first $5,000,” Woodrow said. “Additionally, the SCCC Foundation agreed to match up to $5,000 of gifts toward the General Scholarship Fund after that first $15,000 was raised.”
After two years of pandemic adjustments and internal reorganization, Woodrow was excited to invite the community to join the fundraising effort.
“Giving Day celebrates the accomplishments of this past school year and looks forward to academic year 2022-23,” he said.
The day after Giving Day, Thompson was pleased with the final tally:
“Not only did we have the matching gifts from President Bennett and his family and the SCCC Foundation, but we had three anonymous donors provide matches yesterday as well,” she said. “With any new event, you never really know what to expect and we found a few things we can improve upon next year. However, we feel so very blessed by our Saints Nation for the response we had yesterday for the first SCCC Giving Day. Thank you to each of you for your belief and support of our students, scholarships, and and programs.”
Categories: ANNOUNCEMENTS, Donations
Leave a Reply