Nigel: Well, it’s one louder, isn’t it? It’s not ten. You see, most, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten – you’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up – you’re on ten on your guitar, where can you go from there? Where?
Marty: I don’t know.
Nigel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty: Put it up to eleven.– This is Spinal Tap
Young alumnae – do you know how far your donation to Merrie-Woode reached this year? You just might be surprised by the answer.
Let’s think about it in terms of music. Acoustic music is wonderful – it is pure, heartfelt, comforting. Alone, however, it does not fill a stadium. It does not reach as far as we would desire, limiting in its ability to impact others. For that we need an amplifier, powered by electricity.
The introduction of the amplifier caused a revolution in music, allowing a small group of musicians to play to a much larger audience. From that one technological development, a paradigm shift occurred in music performance. No longer was an orchestra required to fill a large concert hall with sound. A group of a few players could share their music with an entire stadium, thanks to this new technology.
Just like that seismic shift in sound, a dramatic change has occurred in the results of our recent social media fundraiser – the Young Alum Challenge. Your generosity has been amplified.
To illustrate how far we have come, let’s take a moment to review the history of the Young Alum Challenge. Three years ago, Merrie-Woode initiated a fundraising experiment, the Young Alum Challenge. Its purpose was to add another dimension to the Annual Fund Campaign and to cultivate a tradition of giving among the young people who are at a point in their lives where they are closely connected to their Merrie-Woode experience. Using social media, Camp launched a 55-hour challenge to raise $5,500 – the price of one Main Session tuition.
The young alumnae responded in full force. In just 55 hours, with donations starting at $5.00, these dedicated Merrie-Woode girls raised $8,405, more than enough to give the Merrie-Woode experience to a girl whose family is in financial need.
Lindsay, Denice, and I try to find good WiFi during our online campaign with no internet!
In 2015, the second year of our Young Alum Challenge, we faced unanticipated set-back. Our internet connection went down during the middle of the 48 hours! We rallied the troops on social media and asked everyone to email the donations to the Camp Office. Merrie-Woode girls are used to being “unplugged,” and they did not hesitate to respond. Lack of internet and all, we raised 2 tuitions in 2 days, for a total of $9,161!
With a modest increase in revenue from 2014 to 2015, we thought the momentum might slow down as the challenge entered its 3rd year. We could not have been more wrong! So many young alumnae gave generously to this year’s Challenge, honoring their Merrie-Woode friendships. Nearly 200 young women gave out of love for “old friends, gold friends,” and while donations continued to arrive steadily, we filled the conference room wall with pictures of these donors with their Merrie-Woode friends. At the end of the challenge, we raised $13,265, a total 44% greater than the prior year.
What could be more outstanding? This year the young alumnae raised enough funds to send a girl to each of Merrie-Woode’s three summer sessions. What they did not know is that the impact of their generosity would be much greater than they could ever have anticipated.
A Merrie-Woode alumna contacted us with the news that she was so impressed by the sacrifice and generosity of these young alumnae that she wanted to MATCH their donation with an additional $15,000 gift! Joy and gratitude at this incredible news resonated throughout the office. What had been a marvelous and impressive response from a group of dedicated young alumnae was now going to more than double in reach! That’s the power of Generosity Amplified – when the energy of giving spreads like electricity, inspiring others and multiplying the impact far beyond its expected result.
We know that all of our alumnae, young and beyond, will be thrilled and excited by this wonderful news. We have placed the matching gift in our newly-created Campership Endowment, where the income generated from this investment will continue to fund camperships for wonderful and deserving young women throughout the next century. We thank you all for your overwhelming generosity. You have demonstrated with your actions that you are living out this most important Merrie-Woode virtue and turning it up to ELEVEN!
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