College News

Fisher Fund Drive is Underway

12/08/2011

On Wednesday, November 30, dozens of faculty and staff gathered for the official kick-off of the annual Fisher Fund Pledge Drive, which encourages faculty and staff to donate to the fund to support current and future students.

The Faculty and Staff Pledge Drive has been going on for over a decade, and has seen an increase in support almost every year.  In 2009, the drive surpassed the $50,000 mark for the first time.  Last year, the drive was responsible for over $57,000 in gifts and pledges from 218 faculty and staff members.  By the end of the fiscal year, the College had received gifts totaling over $76,000 from 252 donors.

“Though many of these gifts are left unrestricted for the College to use in the area of greatest need, we have a number of faculty and staff members who restrict their donations to scholarship support, a particular academic department, or an athletic team,” said Sarah Campagna, Director of the Fisher Fund.

The 2011 Pledge Drive Chair is Dr. Rich O’Brocta, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Wegmans School of Pharmacy.

“I am happy to serve as Chair of this year’s pledge drive because Fisher is truly a family, and family helps one another.  This is one small way that I can give back to the college,” said O’Brocta.

Past chairs have included Joan Benulis, Jill Rathbun, and Chris Nelson-Tuttle.  According to Campagna, chairs are selected because they “are advocates for our fundraising efforts within the greater Fisher community and truly understand the significance of giving.”

Though not all gifts from faculty and staff come in through the drive, 75% of faculty and staff donations are received during the campaign that runs every November and December.

“The tremendous participation rates we see each year communicate a message of viability and stability to alumni and friends of the College who are not here every day to see how happy our students, our faculty, and our staff really are,” said Campagna. “In the same way that U.S. News & World Report uses alumni participation as a marker for the success of a college or university when determining rankings, our alums can see that faculty and staff giving is connected to the strength of the institution.”

For the past three years, the drive has achieved participation rates ranging from 45-46%.

For more information about the drive, contact Sarah Campagna at scampagna@sjfc.edu or 385-8023.