GREENVILLE, Pa.-- More than 500 donors in a 24-hour period lifted Thiel College to his fifth consecutive year of increased participation for its one-day fundraising campaign, “Match Day.”
A record-setting 507 donors contributed $161,773 to The Thiel Fund, topping the campaign’s goal of 400 contributors. This year’s theme was “Take the Plunge.” When the 400-donor level was surpassed, a video of about 60 Thiel College students, alumni and employees jumping into freezing Pymatuning Reservoir was released. The Thiel Fund is an unrestricted source of funds that can be used to fund scholarships and unforeseen needs of the College.
“The response and support from the Thiel College community has been phenomenal. We sincerely appreciate the generosity of our alumni and friends of the College. They all stepped up and made this happen,” Thiel College Vice President of College Advancement Roberta Leonard said. “A special thank you must go to all our generous donors, who issued the matching funds challenges that really make this a special day.”
Over the last five years, Match Day has maintained its positive momentum, setting marks for participation and/or money raised. The College asked alumni, community members and friends of the College to make contributions. In its seven years, the event has raised more than $900,000.
Match Day also featured affinity group challenges with 238 donations made from representatives and members of Greek organizations. Fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon was the male Greeks with the highest participation. Sorority Alpha Xi Delta nearly lost their title from last year as the sorority with the most participants when Zeta Tau Alpha fell one donor short of matching Alpha Xi Delta.
“The energy our friends, employees, students and alumni displayed in the pre-Match Day plunge carried over and was reflected in the number of donors we had,” Director of The Thiel Fund Mark Batt ’87 said. “The overall sense of community is really powerful. I am grateful that people have responded. This is the first time we’ve engaged the student community to be involved in this day, and we’re just thrilled at the number of people who responded.
“The results of this effort will have a direct and positive impact on the lives of our students.”