The Spoon River College Foundation is pleased to announce that, thanks to the generosity of donors across the SRC district and beyond, its #GivingSPOONday campaign was a huge success, surpassing its goal and raising $50,822 from 360 separate gifts, including all matching funds.
As part of the larger Giving Tuesday movement to create a worldwide day of giving, the SRC Foundation had challenged all friends of SRC to “change lives for good,” and give 200 separate gifts to benefit SRC in the 24-hour period of December 1.
“By the end of the night, we had already increased our goal to 250 gifts, and our generous communities helped us soar right past that goal, too,” said Colin Davis, Executive Director of the SRC Foundation. “While SRC students’ need is greater than ever, we know they’re nowhere near alone. To see this kind of response when we know how much financial need is out there right now is simply incredible. We can’t thank our communities enough.”
According to Davis, gifts ranged from $1 to $10,000. When the matching gifts are removed, the average gift was around $80, and gifts came from 14 states and 75 zip codes. Gifts came from as far away as Florida, Arizona, Vermont and Washington State.
“The appeal of helping students at SRC truly reaches all corners of the country,” said Davis. “But it’s our communities here in west central Illinois that stepped up for us in the biggest way.”
As always, donors had the option of directing their gifts to be used however they saw fit. While some directed funds to specific scholarships, facilities, student or community programs, or the Student Emergency Hardship Fund, many donors made unrestricted gifts, which help the Foundation quickly meet the needs of SRC and students as the needs arise.
“With our unrestricted funds, we were able to launch our new Emergency Hardship Fund in the spring as a way to help SRC students remain enrolled in classes and on track,” Davis said. “And we’ve received dozens upon dozens of requests for those funds from students who have lost their jobs, had extra medical expenses, or have needed access to more technology to complete coursework remotely while remaining at home with their kids.”
As an added bonus, all donors to #GivingSPOONday received access to the SRC Community Chorus’ production of Home for the Holidays: Virtually Unplugged, a virtual concert of winter and holiday performances created by over 70 members of the Chorus.
“The SRC Community Chorus, which is celebrating its 15th year and raises money for SRC student scholarships, normally would have performed a holiday concert in early December,” said Davis. “But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that concert was unable to happen. However, both the Chorus and the Foundation felt that providing holiday cheer is more important than ever this year, so we’re bringing it to them in the safety of their homes, and we’re grateful for the over 70 people who gave their time and talent to this project, because it certainly was a big help in our successful campaign.”
People who wish to see the concert are encouraged to make a gift to the SRC Foundation by December 18 by visiting www.src.edu/givingtuesday or calling (309) 649-6260. The college is closed for winter break from Dec. 19 through Jan. 3.
“The longer the pandemic continues, the more we’ll need to be there for our students. The generosity of our friends during #GivingSPOONday, no matter how they asked for their gifts to be used, will allow us to meet more and more of those needs. The beautiful thing about #GivingSPOONday is how everyone, even just by sharing information about the campaign on social media or donating spare change at Hy-Vee, plays a big part. We thank everyone who helped make the campaign a success.”