Mercyhurst Magazine Fall 2018

CLASS OF 1977 Participation 14% Total Giving $259,215.10 Leadership Giving Society Jefrey Best

Rosemary Durkin, Esq. Elizabeth Hirt Vorsheck

Kathleen Martz Althof Diane Becker Borenstein Patricia Mullaugh Burch Valorie McIntyre Catalano Denis Coan Debbie Flounders Crawford Dan Foley Mark Folland Maryann Lynett Frontino Robert Gaughan Thomas Hubert Donna Shamy Jaworek Allan Kinzie Paula O’Polka Klinger Anne Summerville Koch Joan Mohr Krist Mark Long Doreen Kevit Mayconich Kathy Murray

Denise Corbin Order Michael Radziszewski Sheila Walsh Richter H. Charles Schmidt Edward Stolarski, Esq. John Strickland Martin Sturgess Raymond Tipton, M.D. Gregory Vogelman Kenneth White

Top Left: Bob Green and Daryl Georger demonstrate new wine bottling equipment. Top Right: Athletic trainers Steve Reinhardt, Morgan Beaty and Tricia DiMatteo show of their new vehicle. Bottom Left: Dr. Ken Schif congratulates students Ryan Kushner, James Wallace and Caroline Magoc at the 2015 Literary Festival. Bottom Right: Pitcher Josh Greggs works out on new rehabilitation equipment. CROWDFUNDING APPEALS RESONATE WITH YOUNG DONORS

CLASS OF 1978 Participation 15% Total Giving $54,867.46 Leadership Giving Society Joseph NeCastro P. Kelly Tompkins George Venuto Jr. Patrick Weschler, Esq. John Beck Jr. + Cynthia Byham-Perfett Homer Capotis Patrick Dunn Valarie Ferro John Gable John Gregory Maryellen Bowen Hill Matthew Hill Jacqueline Hofmann Alice Stinely Kelley Sue Berardinelli Koester Lisa Manendo Kathleen Megnin Millay Gary Morrow Julie Colditz Morrow G. Frederick Null Sharyn Hurst Nutter Joseph Pacinelli

Mercyhurst raised just shy of $17,000 with its frst venture into crowdfunding in 2016. And while that’s a small fraction of the millions raised through more traditional means, the success of those frst four projects provided convincing evidence that this new fundraising tool is here to stay.

relies primarily on social media to spread the word about what’s needed. “Instead of getting one donor to give $5,000, or even getting 10 donors to give $500, crowdfunding might get 100 donors to give $50 to make a project a reality,” explained Ryan Palm ’07, associate vice president for advancement and coordinator of Mercyhurst’s crowdfunding initiative. At Mercyhurst and elsewhere, crowdfunding seems to appeal especially to young people, who are most comfortable communicating and donating online. Palm said young alumni like the opportunity to target their gifts to programs they are passionate about, knowing that even a modest gift will have an immediate impact. They can also get their friends and associates involved by sharing on their own social networks.

For 2017, Mercyhurst set out to raise funds to:

Create a lab where hospitality students can make and bottle wine Purchase a new golf cart for the athletic training staf and build a shed to house it Endow a reading at the annual Literary Festival in memory of Dr. Ken Schif Provide training and rehabilitation equipment for the Laker baseball program.

Once again, all four projects were completely funded to the tune of more than $23,000.

Watch for a new round of crowdfunding projects to be unveiled soon.

Crowdfunding seeks relatively small contributions from a large number of donors to complete specifc projects, and

36

Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online