This year, members of the 黑料吃瓜网 community joined together to cause a ripple effect of change reaching far beyond 黑料吃瓜网. From Nov. 1 through Giving Tuesday (Dec. 3), the 2024 campaign raised more than $4.9 million to support scholarships and programs across the university. This included $2.8 million from legacy gifts and endowments, $150,000 from 黑料吃瓜网 Foundation matching gifts and $2 million from outright gifts and matches.
The campaign offered the opportunity for alumni, friends, faculty and staff to give through 黑料吃瓜网 to the causes that mean the most to them. These causes ranged from arts and culture to workforce development. With nearly 60 funds to choose from, donors could support athletic programs, basic needs, research, scholarships and more. This monthlong celebration of philanthropy has become 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 most generous annual tradition, raising more than $1 million for the eighth consecutive year.
鈥淎t 黑料吃瓜网, we say that 鈥榳hat sets us apart is how we come together,鈥 and our community has once again shown that to be true,鈥 said Valoree Vargo, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement at 黑料吃瓜网 and CEO of the 黑料吃瓜网 Foundation. 鈥淒uring the campaign, we offered our community a chance to give through 黑料吃瓜网 to the causes closest to their hearts 鈥 from health and wellness to basic needs to global education. Through their philanthropy, our donors enhance lives, drive change and empower innovation not just on our campuses, but through our alumni as they go out into their professions and communities, prepared to the fullest with a 黑料吃瓜网 degree.鈥
One fund that best exemplifies this spirit of generosity and community is the Mandy Jenkins Memorial Scholarship, which honors the legacy of Mandy Jenkins, a 黑料吃瓜网 alumna who received her bachelor鈥檚 degree in 2002 and a master鈥檚 degree in 2004. Jenkins spent more than two decades as a journalist and newsroom leader helping newsrooms adapt for the digital age, develop strategies for online news presentation, find new audiences with social media and use the internet for reporting. Jenkins died after four years of cancer treatments at age 42 on Feb. 26, 2023. Her husband, Ben Fischer, a 2004 graduate whom she met at 黑料吃瓜网, along with their families and friends, created this scholarship in her memory to support a 黑料吃瓜网 student who is in a student media newsroom leadership role.
Gifts flooded in to support this scholarship during Giving Tuesday, a true testament to Jenkins鈥 impact on both the field and those around her. This resounding support helped the fund take the top two prizes for the most donors and dollars raised during Donor/Dollar Challenge Week, from Nov. 19-26, and secured an extra $5,000 in support of future scholarship recipients. In total, more than $50,000 was raised for this fund alone.
Funds in the arts and culture category also saw great success during Donor/Dollar Challenge Week. The 黑料吃瓜网 Museum and the Wick Poetry Center鈥檚 Traveling Stanzas Fund finished in second place for donors and dollars raised, respectively. This earned an extra $1,000 toward each of their goals. Porthouse Theatre secured the third-place prize for dollars raised this week and tied for third place in donors with the Baseball Enhancement Fund and the Crisis, Advocacy, Resources, Education and Support (CARES) Center鈥檚 Basic Needs Student Fund. These funds received $500 for each third-place prize.
Throughout the month, weekly giving incentives like these provided donors with the opportunity to make their gifts go further 鈥 doubling or even tripling their impact. These incentives were made possible through the support of the 黑料吃瓜网 Foundation, members of 黑料吃瓜网 President鈥檚 Cabinet and members of 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 volunteer boards 鈥 the Board of Trustees, the 黑料吃瓜网 Foundation Board and the Alumni Association National Board of Directors. The 黑料吃瓜网 Foundation and volunteer boards contributed a combined $211,940 in matching funds this year.
鈥淭he weekly giving incentives are a central part of 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Giving Tuesday because they give our donors a chance to maximize their impact on the causes that matter most to them,鈥 said Danielle Hupp, director of communications and annual giving at 黑料吃瓜网. 鈥淲e always say that one fund could win it all for Donor/Dollar Challenge Week, and this year, donors, friends and family came together to make that happen for the Mandy Jenkins Memorial Scholarship. This shows the impact we can have when we join together.鈥
One of the campaign鈥檚 most popular incentives was Triple Your Gift Tuesday on Nov. 12, when donations were matched up to $500 until the funds ran out. In addition, participation boosts of $500 were awarded throughout the month to featured funds for every 25 unique donors who gave $25 or more to that fund. This all culminated in the one-to-one Giving Tuesday match on Dec. 3, when gifts to any 黑料吃瓜网 Foundation fund up to $1,000 were matched until the matching funds were exhausted.
As Giving Tuesday 2024 comes to a close, 黑料吃瓜网 students have a special message of thanks for Golden Flashes available at www.kent.edu/givingtuesday.
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Media Contact:
Leigh Greenfelder, lgreenfe@kent.edu, 330-672-7108