Annual university campaign sets record number of donors
A total of 1,063 donors gave money to Central Michigan University during the fall 2013 semester.
The group consisting of faculty, staff and retirees set a record for the number of donors in one semester. The previous record was set in 2011 when 1,033 donors gave to the university.
The 2013 donation cycle was also second-best year in terms of dollars raised, amounting to more than $1.04 million in donations. This year was second only to 2010's fundraising efforts, when a record of more than $1.23 million was donated to the university.
The rise in donors follows a trend that began in 2006, when the number of donors in this category began to consistently increase. With the exception of 2012 – there was a slight decline from 1,033 donors in 2011 to 1,011 in 2012 – the trend remained steady.
Bryan Griffin, director of annual giving and development, said focusing on this category of donors is important because money is donated to many disparate accounts across the university.
"We really focused on retiree giving this year, that was a key for us," Griffin said. "People will give to scholarships, athletics, public broadcasting – really any account at CMU you can think of, people give to."
Griffin added that the record donor and successful donation year is attributed to the willingness of these people to help give back to the university and its students.
"A lot of people give to scholarships and they see it impacting the students first hand," Griffin said. "Because we're all around students and see the importance of scholarships, we go ahead and put monetary backing behind them and support them"
