Cedarville Magazine, Summer 2014

Cedarville Magazine | 33 cedarville.edu/collegenow APPLY TODAY College Courses for High School Students Now participating in PSEO and providing free courses for Ohio students! Challenge Accepted You’ve heard the saying, “Go big or go home.” On May 15, the Cedarville Fund went bigger than big, raising $129,212.03 online and by phone in 24 hours. The results were more than double the initial objective to raise $51,500 on 5/15. The challenge came from a donor who pledged an additional $25,000 gift for scholarships if the goal could be met. By 11:59 p.m., Cedarville had set a new record for gifts received in a single day. The 24-hour fund drive was organized by Wade Harris ’99 and Stephanie (Cleek) Carroll ’10, Director and Officer of the Cedarville Fund, respectively. For several days preceding the event, they piqued interest by posting mysterious messages on social media sites about “something exciting” to follow on May 15. A special “5/15 Challenge” website went live at midnight, and alumni, faculty, and staff volunteers began reaching out to their friends, encouraging them to participate. “When we arrived at Cedarville around 5:30 that morning, the gifts were already pouring in,” said Carroll. “At one point, the website couldn’t process them fast enough.” On campus, Harris and Carroll set up a command center in the Stevens Student Center. Nearly 50 faculty and staff members came by throughout the day to connect with former students and ask them to contribute. The room played host to a daylong party with food, T-shirts, prizes, and cheering as gifts kept coming in. Online, nearly 200 alumni volunteers changed their Facebook profiles to the 5/15 Challenge logo and posted messages about why they gave and how they designated their gifts. As donors gave online, they had the option to download the 5/15 Challenge logo and post giving messages online to keep spreading the word. By late afternoon, well before the clock ran out, the original $51,500 was raised, which secured the additional $25,000 scholarship match. This energized volunteers to dig deeper to try to double the goal, and they were once again successful. More than 40 current students and even two prospective students gave to help secure the gift match. In all, nearly 700 individuals contributed, including 133 new donors to the University. “I was blown away by the Cedarville family’s generosity that day,” said Carroll. “I couldn’t stop looking at Facebook and Twitter to see all the positive messages about why people were giving to the University. We even had quite a few ’14 grads calling in to give multiple gifts that day to make sure we reached the goal.” The greater impact of the event was about more than raising money. Paula Adkins has a son at Cedarville, and she was a staff volunteer on 5/15. Weeks later, while Adkins was wearing her 5/15 Challenge T-shirt in town, another mother approached her and thanked her for helping with the event. “My son has been trying to raise funds for a missions trip. He was short on money, and he didn’t think he could go,” she told Adkins. “Because of 5/15, someone from Cedarville called him and said he received a Missions Involvement Services scholarship.” The scholarship was in the exact amount that he needed. It’s worth noting that 360 gifts, more than half of those received that day, were under $100. “This event wasn’t about huge gifts,” said Carroll. “We proved that a lot of small gifts make a very large impact. The 5/15 Challenge was truly a team effort.” Gifts of any amount are still welcome! Visit cedarville.edu/giving . Campus News Nearly 50 faculty and staff volunteers joined the fun on campus and helped the Cedarville Fund surpass its goal.