On March 17, Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill, hosted their first one-day giving event, themed around the school’s Irish roots and held appropriately on St. Patrick’s Day.
Three weeks earlier, the school began sharing the event with alumni, current parents and students. They collected Irish Giving Day donations through the annual alumni newsletter and letters to existing donors, in addition to both phone and online donations.
The giving day, then, launched with an email announcement that as of 6 a.m. they had already raised $25,679.
“We have been anticipating this day for many months,” said Mary Whipkey, president. “And we were confident in the enthusiasm of our community to get behind the idea. We had a quiet goal of $50,000 and were thrilled to see that surpassed early in the afternoon.”
To help illustrate the need for donations, the school profiled 10 students in their targeted email requests for donations throughout the day. The student profiles helped connect alumni, donors and former parents of students with the CCHS of today, and the students’ activities, academics and scholarship needs, all of which the Annual Fund helps support.
During the 24-hour period there were more than 100 first-time donors, 20 donors of $1,000 or more and a total of 420 donors throughout the day, all contributing to the $63,302 total. The Board of Trustees also promised a 100 percent match for all donations from the classes of 2005-14 to encourage young alumni to get involved.
The current student body celebrated Irish Giving Day by participating in an Irish Pride themed dress-down day, and the Student Government hosted a Lip Synch Battle in which all ticket sales were donated to Irish Giving Day.
Funds raised throughout the day benefit the Camden Catholic Annual Fund, which helps close the gap between the school’s tuition cost and the actual cost to educate each student.
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