Point Loma Nazarene University’s annual giving campaign, Green4Gold, lasted Oct. 17-19 and surpassed its goal of one million dollars by about $72,000.
570 people donated and 85 of them were students, according to an email by Green4Gold.
According to Hanna Vanca, an alumni engagement manager from the Office of Alumni Relations, alumni, staff/faculty, parents, students and community partners were encouraged to donate to the fund; however, alumni contributed most to the fund this year.
Funds raised during the event go toward supporting student scholarships and programs, with most of the donations being put toward the Loma Fund — a general on-campus fund that supports institutional needs. Money was also allocated to the athletics department and the Center for Justice and Reconciliation, among other things, according to Interim Director of Alumni Relations Kimberly White.
The one-million-dollar goal is the largest monetary goal the campaign has had since it started nine years ago, according to Vanca.
“With a million dollars and stuff, obviously we don’t expect people to donate $10,000 or [$]5,000, every person,” Vanca said. “The goal is to get everyone to donate even just a dollar.”
The goal of encouraging people to give a dollar was reinforced by the Green4Gold free coffee event held on Wednesday, Oct. 18 on Caf Lane.
The Student Alumni Ambassador Team and the ASB Board hosted the event. Alumni owned business, Good Roots, provided free coffee.
This was the first time the Green4Gold campaign had a free coffee event. It was hosted as both a celebration and an effort to get others to donate.
“You as a student really reap the benefits of our annual giving campaign,” Vanca said, referring to the celebration aspect of the event.
White also said that the donation process was a way to encourage alumni to donate.
“If our students weren’t involved, then alumni would be less encouraged to get involved,” White said.
Both Vanca and White compared students’ donating to casting votes.
“It’s a great way for students to kind of cast a vote for their investment into the university,” Vanca said. “When you donate a dollar, you can designate that you want it to go to the Loma Fund, go to athletics, go to the CJR.”
The Green4Gold donating process also included matches and challenges.
“Matches are when a donor pledges to give a certain amount of money once other donors give that same amount of money: ‘dollar for dollar,’” Vanca said.
Meanwhile, challenges are when a donor promises to give once a collective number of individuals have donated, according to Vanca.
Anna Ivanov, ASB director of communications and a third-year graphic design major with an emphasis in marketing, helped at the event, alongside all the ASB board and Hooligans members. Ivanov said that her role, along with the other ASB members, was to promote Green4Gold and inform others about the event and how to donate.
“The total mission is just getting students to give back to this awesome school because it will end up getting poured back into them,” Ivanov said. “It’s like an investment.”
Gia Renteria, a first-year nursing major, attended the free coffee event and donated two dollars.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for students to get involved in the Point Loma community,” Renteria said. “No matter how much they give — a dollar, five dollars — it really doesn’t matter. I think anything helps.”
Although the Green4Gold campaign is over, White said that people can still donate to PLNU at http://www.pointloma.edu/give.
