Late surge puts fundraising effort over the top
By Doug Sweet
When the books were closed on the 2013 McGill Centraide campaign, there was $416,500 worth of good news.
Last fall, the campaign, like many charitable efforts these days, appeared to be struggling to reach its $400,000 target, but a burst of generosity in the closing days meant beating that target by a fairly sizeable margin.
“We’re thrilled to be able to contribute so significantly to the greater Montreal Centraide effort,” said McGill campaign co-chair Peter Todd, Dean of the Desautels Faculty of Management. “We know it’s not easy, given the shape the economy’s in, the many demands made of individuals to contribute to so many good causes these days, including some urgent needs like the Lac-Mégantic disaster and other crises around the world.”
At a closing luncheon and wrap-up meeting for campaign volunteers last week, Sébastien Tassé, Campaign Manager at Centraide Montreal, expressed his deep appreciation for McGill’s efforts. The total amount raised meant that McGill was the leader among post-secondary institutions in Montreal.
Student efforts were also recognized and the student co-chairs – Brian Farnan (SSMU VP Internal Affairs); and Michael Krause (PGSS Internal Affairs Officer) – were singled out for their valuable contributions.
“I was really happy that students were asked to participate to such a degree,” Krause said. “I hope we’ll be able to make an even bigger contribution next year. It’s a great way for students to get out of the ‘McGill bubble’ and engage with the community.”
The McGill Centraide campaign has also announced the winners of six iPod Nanos drawn in various categories. Our congratulations to the lucky winners: Dr. David Lewis and Ms. Hong Lin in the New Donors Category; Prof. Doina Precup and Pierre Thibodeau, in the repeat donors category; Heather Anderson in the New Leaders category; and Royal Govain in the Repeat Leaders category.
Although he could not attend the luncheon meeting, MUNACA President Kevin Whittaker, also a Centraide campaign co-chair, expressed his deep appreciation to the Committee members and all employees who participated in this year’s campaign. “We would have liked to have been able to do more; nonetheless, we are very happy with the campaign results,” he said in a message read to the gathering.
Vice-Principal Administration and Finance, Michael Di Grappa, another of the campaign co-chairs, also expressed his satisfaction about the campaign’s ultimate success in the context of a challenging environment for philanthropy and charitable giving. “We pulled through in the end,” he said. “And not to take anything away from the very hard work people did to make this a success, we need to find ways to increase our level of participation in the future, because having more people contribute small sums is the best way to reach our goal.
“Congratulations to this year’s committee and the other co-chairs who contributed so much to our success this year.”