Giving Green campaign reaches new highs

A record number of Giving Green donors enabled this year’s fundraising drive for the Arts & Science Council and the UNC Charlotte Foundation to bring in $266,867 from faculty and staff.

“What a tremendous demonstration of support,” said co-chairs Anne Brown and Jurgen Buchenau. “To the 1,046 unique faculty and staff donors, we want to express our appreciation for your generosity. It is gratifying that so many of our colleagues share our pride in the University and are willing to make an investment to help provide the best educational opportunities for our students and aid the Arts & Science Council to provide programming that benefits the community.

“We also want to thank all of the Giving Green champions at the division and unit level,” the co-chairs stated. “It takes a village to support a workplace giving program, and the volunteer champions did an outstanding job to encourage their co-workers to be part of the campaign.”

Giving Green launched in conjunction with #NinerNationGives, a 49-hour digital fundraising campaign that encourages Niners everywhere to support the University.

Nearly 73 percent of this year’s Giving Green contributions from employees were donated during this initial 49-hour effort. Organizers noted that the many alumni challenges and matches helped both Giving Green and #Niner Nation Gives to reach record totals.

With regard to Giving Green, alumnus Gene Johnson ’73 challenged Alumni Campus Employee (ACE) network members to participate, and he matched their donations dollar-for-dollar, which will endow a scholarship to assist student employees.

“The ACE Scholarship Fund will enable us to ease the financial burden of attaining a college education for some of the University’s student workers,” said Natalie Huie ’14. “Nearly 75 percent of our undergraduates receive financial aid, so providing scholarships to current and future students is an effort that many 49er alumni employees can support. After all, we are all Niners.”

#NinerNationGives also had a record-breaking campaign, securing nearly 3,300 donor gifts that totaled $681,728. At least one donor from all 50 states contributed to the campaign during the 49-hour drive, which was a first-time accomplishment.

Niles Sorensen, vice chancellor for the Division of University Advancement, said, “’We are all Niners,’ was envisioned as an invitation to all of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends of UNC Charlotte to come together as members of Niner Nation. It is a message that has achieved a special poignancy in the months since April 30. The success of this year’s #NinerNationGives and Giving Green campaigns offers eloquent testimony to how deeply that theme has resonated in Niner Nation.”