NWACC breaks iGive records

Internal campaign raises $34,301

BENTONVILLE — Northwest Arkansas Community College faculty and staff broke a couple of records in its annual internal giving campaign, including the amount donated.

Faculty and staff raised $34,301 during the campaign, known as iGive. The amount is more than an $8,000 increase from the $26,167 raised last year, according to the college.

“We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our employees to support the students and programs of Northwest Arkansas Community College,” Karen O’Donohoe, annual giving officer for the NWACC Foundation, said. “We believe their gifts represent the commitment of our faculty and staff to the college.”

Fifty-six percent of fulltime faculty and 55 percent of full-time staff participated in the campaign, which was up from 42 percent and 38 percent, respectively last year, according to O’Donohoe.

The participation this year also set a record for the college and is more than three times the national average of 17 percent for internal giving campaigns at community colleges, O’Donohoe said.

The two-week campaign was in September. Donors

could choose where their support would be used including unrestricted gifts, programs, scholarships and the employee assistance fund.

Juanita Franklin, associate director for Hispanic Outreach and LIFE program director, donates to the DREAMers of NWACC Club to help provide scholarships to undocumented students. The acronym stands for development, relief, and education for alien minors.

Those students aren’t eligible to receive federal financial aid and often rely on private scholarships to pay for higher education, Franklin said. She also works personally with many of the students who receive the DREAMers scholarships as she is the faculty adviser for the Latin Culture Club.

“These students have so many other things to worry about. To them, $1,000 over the academic year is huge,” she said.

Megan Bolinder, dean of the Arts & Communications Division, said she’s given to student scholarships for several years as a way to help make sure they can complete their course work.

“What we offer to students is life changing if they can complete it,” she said. “Many of our students have to make tough choices on how they’re going to utilize their resources.” Bolinder explained she’s seen students choose between buying books and buying groceries. “That’s not just an analogy.”

The internal giving campaign has been an annual event since at least 2005. It was branded as iGive a couple of years ago.

The campaign is also a chance for faculty and staff to get acquainted with the more than 200 different programs, scholarships and funds offered at the college, O’Donohoe said.