Some might call the recent “All In for Central” fund drive a friendly $100,000 wager the Central Methodist University governing board was happy to lose.
All In for Central was a special campaign focused primarily on increasing donor participation, rather than an emphasis on dollars, according to Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Relations Dr. Josh Jacobs.
If successful, the dollars would come, though - in the form of a $100,000 challenge by CMU’s Board of Trustees.
By the end of the week-long drive if CMU could record 1,854 donors, Trustees collectively pledged to donate $100,000 to the Central Annual Scholarship Fund. “1854” was set as the goal, both because it is the year in which CMU was founded and because the figure represented a healthy increase in the number of donors as compared to the same time a year earlier.
That challenge was reached at 10:28 a.m. on Monday, April 3, a full day ahead of the deadline. Even after the goal was met, CMU supporters continued to show they were all in by making more gifts. In total, 1,984 unique donors stepped up to support CMU for the All in for Central Trustees’ Challenge.
“The Board of Trustees and I are very appreciative, and impressed, by the outpouring of support from the faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Central to exceed our challenge goal of 1,854 donors by April 4,” said Tad Perry (Central Class of ’65), chairman of the CMU Board of Trustees. “This represents a leap forward in our participation for this year, and our deserving students will feel the impact. Thank you, to all that participated.”
While the $100,000 challenge from the Board is specifically earmarked for student scholarships, individual donors to the All In for Central campaign were able to target their gifts for the CMU program or department of their choice, meaning everyone on campus was a winner this week.
“What I loved about this challenge being called All In for Central is that it effectively communicated that it takes a community to achieve great things,” said Jackie Jackson, director of annual giving and operations for the CMU Advancement department.
“I am humbled by the generosity shown through the week and excited about the opportunities this kind of support will afford our students,” she added.
