{"id":96821,"date":"2020-10-14T10:43:47","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T14:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=96821"},"modified":"2021-01-25T13:56:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T18:56:23","slug":"wright-day-to-give-shatters-fundraising-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2020\/10\/14\/wright-day-to-give-shatters-fundraising-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright Day to Give shatters fundraising records"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual Wright Day to Give on Oct. 1 was the most successful giving day in Wright State University history with 1,081 donors contributing $205,624 for student scholarships and program funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could not be more thrilled with the results of this year\u2019s Wright Day to Give,\u201d said Amy Jones, director of annual giving. \u201cOur students have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, so we were hoping to have more donors and raise more money this year. But the generosity of our Wright State family far exceeded our wildest dreams. We are grateful to each and every donor who stepped up to help our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the greatest benefits of the Wright Day to Give is that it brings the entire Wright State family together,\u201d said Bill Bigham, interim vice president for advancement. \u201cWright State alumni from across the country contribute, along with faculty, staff, students, parents and other friends of the university.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first Wright Day to Give was held on October 1, 2017 \u2014 the university\u2019s Founders Day \u2014 to celebrate Wright State\u2019s 50th anniversary. Since then, the number of donors has increased steadily each year. In 2019, 622 donors contributed $64,430 on the Wright Day to Give.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been wonderful to see the Wright Day to Give grow every year, but the response this year was overwhelming,\u201d said Jones. \u201cWe reached our goal of 600 donors by late afternoon, and the donations just kept rolling in after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Wright Day to Give offered several new challenges and matches to encourage donors to support a variety of colleges, emergency funds, scholarships and initiatives. Gifts from Wright State alumni, regardless of their designation, were counted toward the college they graduated from as part of the College Alumni College. The Raj Soin College of Business had the highest level of participation from alumni, earning an additional $1,500 in bonus funds.<\/p>\n

Incentives were also offered for college emergency funds. The College of Liberal Arts Emergency Fund had the most donor participation and received an additional $1,500 in bonus funds to support students needing assistance with food, housing, lost wages, mental health and various financial constraints.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wright Day to Give helped the College of Liberal Arts (COLA) raise $6,100 for the COLA Emergency Fund. With this support, the college will be able to help 12 to 15 students who need financial support,\u201d said Nick Warrington, COLA\u2019s director of events and community engagement. \u201cMost recently, students have found themselves unemployed due to COVID-19, which has impacted their ability to pay their bills, purchase food and update their technology to take classes online this semester.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its inception in 2017, the COLA Emergency Fund, which is fully funded by private support from donors, has helped 70 students.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe COLA Emergency Fund has been affectionately known as the \u2018Flat Tire Fund,\u2019 which is aimed at helping students with sudden, unexpected emergencies that could prevent them from continuing their education here at Wright State,\u201d said Linda Caron, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. \u201cMany of the students we serve live close to the financial edge, and one flat tire can be a breaking point in their academic endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, Caron and Warrington have heard countless heartbreaking stories from students who have been helped by the COLA Emergency Fund. One student was living in his car because he didn\u2019t have the money for a security deposit on an apartment. He had the funds to pay for his monthly rent, but not the additional amount required to move in.<\/p>\n

Another student could not afford daycare after her mother \u2014 who was also her babysitter \u2014 fell ill. One student needed assistance with emergency electric bill payments to prevent the electricity from being turned off. The COLA Emergency Fund also helped a student with a newborn baby after the baby\u2019s father disappeared without paying any child support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have also helped cover textbooks and final credit hours needed to graduate after financial aid was exhausted, and we provided money for bus passes and car repairs,\u201d said Caron. \u201cThese awards not only rescue our students from the financial cliff, they also keep them in school and show them that Wright State and the College of Liberal Arts truly care for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bigham said that 25% of the gifts on the Wright Day to Give were directed to student emergency funds within the colleges, the Deedrick Student Support Fund or the Raider Food Pantry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to hear stories from our students about pressing emergency needs that require immediate assistance. This can happen in any semester, but it seems to be on a greater scale now due to the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d said Bigham. \u201cGifts to the student emergency funds will be put to immediate use to help students that have reached out to us about their struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are helping students overcome these obstacles so they can continue pursuing their academic goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

In honor of Wright State\u2019s 53rd anniversary, the Wright State University Alumni Association Board of Directors matched all gifts to the Wright State Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship, up to $5,300. The Wright State University Foundation<\/a> donated $16,000 when the goal of 600 donors had been reached.<\/p>\n

Additional challenges and matches were provided by Wright\u2013Patt Credit Union; Marque Engineering; Jeff Lightner \u201996 and family; Bill Pohlman \u201976 and family; Doug Cook \u201981,\u201985; Randy Phillips \u201982 and Cindy Phillips; College of Science and Mathematics leadership; Jeff Bauer \u201988; Amigos Latinos Alumni Society; Veterans and Military Alumni Society; Cleveland Alumni Network; Lake Campus Alumni Network; LGBTQ and Ally Alumni Society; Fraternity and Sorority Alumni Society; African American Alumni Society; Social Work Alumni Society; and Sigma Phi Epsilon Alumni Volunteer Corporation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese matches and challenges were a huge part of our success this year. They made a significant impact for our students and encouraged others to give,\u201d said Jones. \u201cWe look forward to building on the momentum of this year\u2019s Wright Day to Give and breaking even more records in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25% of the gifts on the Wright Day to Give were directed to student emergency funds within the colleges, the Deedrick Student Support Fund or the Raider Food Pantry. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":96845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,748,4839,711,2040,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-business","category-coronavirus","category-faculty-staff","category-giving","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96821"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96857,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96821\/revisions\/96857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}