News

$27,000 Raised on Giving Day

An estimated $27,000 was received in donations from alumni, students, staff, parents, and friends of the University on their third annual Giving Day – a day dedicated to raising scholarship funds for potential University students.

The first Giving Day was on March 24, 2015, which also marked the 20th anniversary of Monmouth becoming a University. “Monmouth Giving Day gives the Monmouth community a chance to come together and make a lasting impact on current and future students,” said Michele Whitlow, Director of University Engagement and Giving Day Planner.

In addition to the scholarship fund, donors also had the option of giving to a specific department, creating the opportunity for donors to give back to the department that means the most to them.

According to Whitlow there were a number of opportunities for individuals to get involved with the Day. “Giving Day was all about giving back to Monmouth and making an impact. People could have done that through our website or in person at the Rebecca Stafford Student Center – we had live music, prizes and games happening there all day. We also had ‘Phil the Pig’ happening on that day, which encouraged student involvement. Second – we loved seeing people post about it on social media. It’s always neat seeing people get excited about Monmouth,” said Whitlow.

Students also got involved in the donation efforts. Andrew Betro, a junior psychology student, contributed through his position at the University Phon-a-thon, a department dedicated to making phone calls to raise money for the University. He said, “I was given the opportunity to receive phone calls from generous alumni who wanted to donate to Monmouth University and let them know how grateful everyone here at Monmouth was for their gifts.”

Alexis Mason, a junior psychology student, joined the efforts through her off-campus job as well. She said, “I worked with ‘Phil the Pig’ to get students involved in Giving Day, and then later that night I worked with the Phon-a-thon to call alumni and friends of the University to help them get involved and help them give back to the University, which means a lot for student scholarship and all of the different programs that we have here.”

Whitlow shared her enthusiasm this year’s student involvement. “I love seeing the Monmouth community gather together to make a huge impact. Seeing students get so involved this year was also incredibly exciting,” she said.

While the biggest impact was made on-campus, off-campus community members joined the fundraising celebration as well including Broad Street Dough Co and Dunkin Donuts.

“This year’s Giving Day was very successful,” said Jason Kroll, Vice President for External Affairs. “I want to thank all of our contributors, but I especially want to single out this year’s record number of student-donors. Their understanding of the critical role that giving back plays in Monmouth University’s stability is a key to our continuing success,” he continued.