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
.
Campus News
Nearly 50 faculty and staff volunteers joined the fun on campus and helped the Cedarville Fund
surpass its goal.
