Important Announcement?

[valpo95]

Saw in the Valpo E-Newsletter the following:

Important Announcement
Wednesday, April 9 will be a very exciting day for Valpo. Please watch for an upcoming announcement from President Heckler in your email.


Does anyone know what is up?  Is it athletics related?  New Academic Building? 

[vu72]

Saw in the Valpo E-Newsletter the following:

Important Announcement
Wednesday, April 9 will be a very exciting day for Valpo. Please watch for an upcoming announcement from President Heckler in your email.


Does anyone know what is up?  Is it athletics related?  New Academic Building? 

My guess, and it's only that, is that it will relate to a new capital drive.  President Heckler mentioned that they are in the quiet phase, where they identify the big dogs and then announce it after 50-70%  of the total has been committed.  The primary purpose of the next campaign will be endowment.  That could include athletic endowment, but I doubt there will be a segment dedicated to specific athletic facilities.

[valpo95]

My guess, and it's only that, is that it will relate to a new capital drive.  President Heckler mentioned that they are in the quiet phase, where they identify the big dogs and then announce it after 50-70%  of the total has been committed.  The primary purpose of the next campaign will be endowment.  That could include athletic endowment, but I doubt there will be a segment dedicated to specific athletic facilities.

I guess then it is a good thing that '72 is one of those big dogs...

[valpotx]

I just received an email about this announcement, that it will be related to a one-day event of getting contributions.  An alum will add $50 to each gift on 4/9, up to the first 600 contributions ($30k total from her).  See the attached link:

http://valpo.edu/proudtobevalpo

[agibson]

From this thread, a capital campaign made sense.

From the President's email I somehow hoped for more

Wednesday, April 9, will be a momentous day for Valparaiso University. While I cannot share all of the details yet, you will receive an email Wednesday morning that will have more information.

In the meantime, I'd like to ask two things of you:

First, plan to show your Valpo spirit on campus this Wednesday
by dressing in your favorite Valpo gear. To help you prepare, the bookstore has generously offered a 25 percent discount on Tuesday, April 8, for all T-Shirts, tank tops, shorts, hats, backpacks, and more.

Somehow Valpo gear makes me think Athletics.  Or media.  Or media and athletics.  Or something.

I'm not sure I can get "I'm going to a basketball game" excited for the announcement of a new capital campaign.

[FWalum]

First, plan to show your Valpo spirit on campus this Wednesday
by dressing in your favorite Valpo gear. To help you prepare, the bookstore has generously offered a 25 percent discount on Tuesday, April 8, for all T-Shirts, tank tops, shorts, hats, backpacks, and more.

Does this include online purchases?

[wh]

First, plan to show your Valpo spirit on campus this Wednesday
by dressing in your favorite Valpo gear. To help you prepare, the bookstore has generously offered a 25 percent discount on Tuesday, April 8, for all T-Shirts, tank tops, shorts, hats, backpacks, and more.

Does this include online purchases?

With grassroots fundraising, offering donors something in return for their participation (e.g., raffle tickets) always gets better results than simply asking for a donation.  Here is a way the bookstore discount could have been used to attract more donations:

Show your spirit - and make a difference!

Show your Valpo spirit on campus this Wednesday by dressing in your favorite Valpo gear. To help you prepare and to make it easy for you to participate in this wonderful matching gift opportunity, the bookstore has generously offered a will contribute 25 percent discount of every purchase in the name of each customer for the match.  So, if you buy a $20 sweat shirt, for example, $5 will be donated in your name - and then matched with a $50 contribution from our generous donor! 

Don't miss this amazing opportunity to show your spirit and support your university in a powerful way!  See you at the Bookstore!

[a3uge]

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ON APRIL 9TH:

Give us money.

[HC]

Tomorrow will be a great day for the university. Nonprofits everywhere do these things. Dig out a crinkled old $5 (or $100) and send it in. Lots of people on here like to complain about facilities and all the improvements Valpo needs, well put your money where your mouth is.   

I suspect there will be high participation and a final tally with a lot of 0's at the end!

[a3uge]

How did the university only find one donor that would match gifts (up to $30,000). If the university can't get $30,000 from this day, I think that would be a bigger problem.

This thing just doesn't seem very well thought out - from the teasing of important news, to the leak three days prior, to not finding enough high money donors to make it seem like giving this day is different than giving any other day.

It also seems way too undirected. It would have been better to direct it at something tangible like an ARC upgrade/replacement or one of the new STEM buildings, or a mixture of a couple projects. Or hell, put a registry of small stuff to fund and have people select from a list of stuff to fund. Something that actually seems tangible. I know you can select the area that your donation can go to, but anyone can do that the other 364 days in the year.

I'm probably being overly cynical, but it just seems like they angered a lot of students/alumni with teasing an announcement that wasn't. Hopefully they learn something from this.

[valpotx]

I believe that the leak on here is my fault lol.  I didn't read the last line of the email I received, asking me to 'please be quiet' about the day until it happens.  I don't know if everyone received this email, but if they didn't, I can take the blame

[a3uge]

The leak actually eased some of the pain - Oren tweeted about it last night and I saw some of the rumors spread to alumni/students that were excited about a big announcement. The people most disappointed were the people that didn't hear about it beforehand. This thing could have been just as big without teasing a big announcement, especially when the announcement was that an alumni was going to match up to $30,000.

[agibson]

Heckler's email to the campus community spun it a little differently than _just_ some sort of a kickoff for a capital campaign.  Sort of a combination of fundraising and encouraging pro-Valpo spirit.  (Is there a word like patriotism, but for a non-national cause?)

I'll quote the note below.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

Today, we begin a new tradition.

No, you won't see A-list celebrities in Founders. The ARC is not going away. Bryce Drew is not receiving a knighthood. And I will not be giving out free cars à la Oprah.*

In the past 24 hours, your imaginations have soared with speculation about what next great thing will happen at Valpo. Your hopes, and dreams, and enthusiasm are contagious. And this is precisely the Valpo spirit and pride that I have come to know and love. That's why, today, we begin a new tradition to help propel this University forward for generations to come.

I am delighted to announce Valparaiso University's first-ever day of celebration and giving – Proud to be Valpo – an annual one-day effort to inspire alumni and students, faculty and staff, and parents and friends from around the globe to celebrate and share our appreciation for Valpo.

This is our moment to tell the world why we're Proud to be Valpo! Join classmates, colleagues, and alumni on campus and around the world by sharing your stories and photos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Use #valpoday and let everyone know what you love most about dear old Valpo.

And for today only, alumna Barbara Schwarz '76 has pledged to match the first 600 gifts of any amount made to Valparaiso University with an additional $50 gift up to $30,000. In response to her challenge, we're asking alumni and friends to join together and share their Valpo pride by making a gift at valpo.edu/proudtobevalpo or 219.464.6188. Each gift, whether it's $5, $50, $500, or more, will make a significant difference in sustaining our mission.

Here are a few ways to rise to the Proud to be Valpo challenge today:

• Be bold in brown and gold. Sport your Valpo gear, spread the word, and post photos on social media using #valpoday
• Get involved. Share your gratitude to Valpo alumni for their support, carry on the traditions they've passed on to you, and make new ones too
• Make your gift count. Go to valpo.edu/proudtobevalpo to donate and it will be matched

We know Valparaiso University is an extraordinary place where honor, excellence, and opportunity thrive. Now is the time to harness our imagination, enthusiasm, and pride by sharing Valpo's story and continuing our commitment to lead and serve this great University for today and for tomorrow.

Let's show the world that we will always be Proud to be Valpo!

[agibson]

And here's the link to the main university page for the "event"
http://www.valpo.edu/proudtobevalpo/

[vu72]

Just made my gift!!

[vu72]

This thing is getting big!  The initial goal of 600 gifts has been met and now an additional alumni has pledged $50 for each of the next 1000 gifts!

Celebs from around the country have made short video pitches including Ron Howard, Adam Amin and Ginger Zee.

Valpotx, did you know that Larry Mowry, chief meteorologist at CBS in Dallas is a Valpo grad?  He did one also.  Great stuff

GET YOUR CONTRIBUTION IN BY MID-NIGHT!  Sport team alumni are doing challenges with each other.  Football and Soccer are in the lead at the moment!!

[vufan75]

Just made my gift!!

This thing is getting big!  The initial goal of 600 gifts has been met and now an additional alumni has pledged $50 for each of the next 1000 gifts!

Celebs from around the country have made short video pitches including Ron Howard, Adam Amin and Ginger Zee.

Valpotx, did you know that Larry Mowry, chief meteorologist at CBS in Dallas is a Valpo grad?  He did one also.  Great stuff

GET YOUR CONTRIBUTION IN BY MID-NIGHT!  Sport team alumni are doing challenges with each other.  Football and Soccer are in the lead at the moment!!

I was just going to post the same info as vu72 already did about the 2nd match being available. You beat me to the punch on that 72! 

In any event that is very good news as perhaps the new $50,000 match will encourage alums and other friends of the university who perhaps have not donated yet to do so. I'm in and hope for a successful campaign for VU! I did not know it or I just flat out missed how the funds would be used from the emails sent, but when I called in, funds raised are going to the Valpo Fund. But if some other area is preferred by a donor, the donor can specify their donation and match go towards that. 

[HC]

They were near 900 gifts when I was around 5pm today. Love it!

[ml2]

Thanks to everyone on the board who made a gift today, I know that many of you did! Just wanted to give the Fan Zone a quick update on what we are doing with Athletics today as part of the Day of Giving. We are having an Athletic Alumni Challenge, with two prizes available. The team which has the greatest number of its alumni make a gift today (of any size, to any area of campus) will get an additional $5,000 this year. Also, the team which has the highest percentage of its alumni make a gift today will also win $5,000. Both prizes can be won by the same team, resulting in an extra $10,000 for that team.

The coaches have done a great job promoting this to their alumni and we have had hundreds of gifts come in just for athletics. So far for the day we have received over $20,000 spread across every team. It has been very cool to see the rallying of support from past student-athletes for the current group of Crusaders. The Challenge will end at midnight tonight and then we will have to do the final tallying over the next couple of days to declare the winner(s).

[HC]

I imagine that student athletes are the toughest group to get donations from, especially those who are recently graduated. Great job! 

[a3uge]

I imagine that student athletes are the toughest group to get donations from, especially those who are recently graduated. Great job! 

I could be wrong, but I thought it was just total donations earmarked towards a certain sports team, not alumni who played a certain sport. There wasn't anything on there asking if you were on a certain team, but there was a dropdown to select a team.

[valpotx]

Even though I made my yearly donation to Valpo baseball late last week, I made another donation early Wednesday morning to help our program's stats in the hopes that we win at least one of the $5,000 'prizes' .  Vu72, I had no idea that Mowry was a Valpo grad, but that is pretty cool.  However, as I have said before, getting a massage from Ginger Zuidgeest ('Zee') will remain my 'claim to fame' lol.

[sfnmman]

It would be nice if the VU powers-to-be published some facts about the success of the one day "Proud To Be Valpo" campaign.  It was a great opportunity to push "good intentions" to "good deeds" and contribute.  What were the results?

[valporun]

All athletic alums received emails from the current coach of their sport(s) with a direct link to give that team. I donated to cross country thru Coach Straubel's direct link in his email.

[ml2]

We are still sorting through all the gifts that came in yesterday. I anticipate having official numbers and announcing the winners of the two $5,000 prizes on Monday.

Unofficially, I was trying to keep a rough tally. By my count we had over $26,000 in gifts to athletics yesterday from nearly 300 individuals. Every team had at least a couple gifts and six different teams topped $1,000.

All in all, a great show of support from our athletic alumni for the current student-athletes.