Alumni and friends of ACU can double the impact of their gifts to the university until March 31. An anonymous donor has volunteered to match 1:1 any gift or pledge up to $50,000.
The gifts will go toward the Exceptional Fund, said Rendi Hahn, coordinator of advancement campaigns. This fund fills the 20-30 percent gap between money raised in tuition and the university’s budget.
The Exceptional Fund was formally known as the Annual Fund. Hahn said the name was changed to better reflect the fund’s importance to students and the university as a whole.
“It helps us supply programs and scholarships that wouldn’t be possible just out of tuition,” Hahn said. “If things get cut, it will impact the students. We’re going to do everything we can to keep providing students with higher and higher quality of education.”
Although the matching donor is anonymous, Hahn was able to specify that the donor is not an ACU alumnus or the relative of one.
“It’s one donor who has put this up,” Hahn said. “They have given to this university since 1973 and started by giving $15 to the Annual Fund.”
Part of the challenge is directed toward new alumni who have never given before. Hahn said it has been an encouragement to see gifts donated by a broad range of individuals, from alumni who still are paying off loans to older generations who have given to ACU since 1966.
“There are people who really care about what happens here,” Hahn said. “I see gifts anywhere from $900 to a dollar.”
Phil Boone, vice president for advancement, said if this challenge is met, the matching fund may be extended by other anonymous donors.
Boone also said the rate of staff and faculty who gave any size gift to the university significantly increased this school year from last school year’s rate. He said the campaign encouraging 100 percent of staff and faculty to participate in giving has been successful so far and will continue into this semester.
“We’ve had a tremendous improvement in overall participation of our faculty and staff,” Boone said. “If our current students have any ideas of how to increase our alumni participation rate, I’d be thrilled to hear them.”
Hahn said she hoped alumni returning to ACU this weekend would realize that any size gift will help future students to experience all that ACU offers.
Those interested in giving can do so on the ACU website. There is a maximum limit per gift of $2,500 in order for it to be matched, Hahn said.
“As people come back to Sing Song and think about the things they enjoyed as students, it’s important to think about the other traditions of this university,” Hahn said. “Giving’s one of them.”
