Vol. 38, No. 18

2-4-2009
By: Adam King

OSU community gives generously in tough times

In a year when financial bad news had the look of a giant boulder picking up speed as it rolled downhill, a university program that survives solely on giving found that caring people aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel.

The Bucks for Charity campaign, which offers donors the opportunity to support more than 300 central Ohio not-for-profit organizations (including umbrella agencies United Way and Community Shares of Mid Ohio), was able to surpass its total collected last year. The OSU community donated $1,213,800, marking the sixth consecutive year that the campaign has broken the $1 million mark and setting a new record for donations.

To Michele Bondurant, Ohio State’s Bucks for Charity program manager, that is an impressive accomplishment.

“We really didn’t know what to expect this year,” Bondurant said. “It just seemed like there wasn’t going to be any good news. But our department coordinators did an outstanding job getting the word out about the campaign, and the OSU community really responded. These charities count on OSU’s spirit of giving to stay viable, and I know they’ll be pleased with our efforts once again.”

Admirably, Bondurant said, 200 more OSU employees donated this year over last year, which helped eclipse last year’s total by $10,000. Another positive was the Leadership Level, where donors choose to give a percentage of their gross pay up to
2 percent through after-tax payroll deductions. This group increased its membership to 130 and raised more than $190,000, up from 114 and $165,000 in 2007.

“It takes a strong commitment to take a portion of your total earnings and donate it, and it’s always encouraging to see our Leadership Level donors step forward year after year,” said Bondurant, who honored these donors at the campaign’s finale luncheon on Feb. 3 at Longaberger Alumni House.

As it does every year, the Medical Center remained the largest contributor to the campaign, but some departments went above and beyond, such as the Office of Business and Finance.

Amy Turner, the lead campaign coordinator for that office, said she and 14 other coordinators did some special things to encourage giving. This year, they hosted a chili cook-off, held silent auctions in various departments and promoted “dress-down” days for making a donation. The Office of the Controller group had folks bring unused items from home and put on a mini garage sale with the proceeds benefiting Bucks for Charity. Some coordinators baked cookies specifically for the people who gave to the campaign — and let others know why they were getting the cookies to encourage more giving.

“Staff in Business and Finance think out of the box and do some creative things to garner interest,” Turner said. “And we’re proud that even in these difficult economic times, people reached deep in their pockets and gave. It’s not the amount of the gift; the emphasis is on participation.”

Turner is a firm believer in Bucks for Charity because it parallels the university’s mission to give back to the community.

“There are always those less fortunate than us,” Turner said, “and we can all find a way to give back.”

The campaign, which was active from Oct. 6 through Dec. 12, fell just short of its $1.25 million goal. But Bondurant said Bucks for Charity would strive for that level again in 2009 and noted that this was the 11th straight year the campaign surpassed the previous year’s total.

“We obviously want to reach the goal we set every year, not because it’s important to hit a certain dollar value but because the communities we live in are direct beneficiaries of the monies we donate,” she said. “Given the diversity of the organizations we support, there really is no part of the community we can’t touch.”

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