MyLU Insider

Development

Category: Development

Teacher Appreciation Week

When we ask alumni to tell us what was most impactful about their time at Lawrence, a good majority answer with a professor’s (or five professors’) name. Teaching and mentoring relationships are a highlight of the Lawrence experience so we plan to celebrate Lawrence’s amazing faculty members during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-11).

The Alumni-Development department will be encouraging alumni to express their gratitude by sharing a sentiment and/or making a gift to the Lawrence Fund in honor or memory of professors, staff members and mentors that enriched their lives.

We will be sharing these messages with the honoree, on our website, and some on of our social media sites. Please let Stephanie Bray stephanie.s.bray@lawrence.edu know if you DO NOT want your messages shared on social media.

Once a Viking, Always a Viking: The Crowdfund for LU Athletics

Dear Lawrence Faculty and Staff Community,

The Vikings student-athletes, coaching staff, and I are humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response from the Lawrence community to Once a Viking, Always a Viking: The Crowdfund for LU Athletics. Thanks to the outpouring of generosity, we were able to smash through our initial goal of 255 donors and then eclipse our challenge goal of 500 total donors! We are still busy tallying the final gifts so please stay tuned for final numbers next week regarding overall donor total and the total amount of support generated for Vikings Athletics. (In the event that anyone missed a reminder message along the way, please know that the Crowdfund website and the link to make a gift are still live and accessible!)

We are so grateful for your support! We look forward to sharing the impact of your gift on our student-athletes over the coming months. As we work to pursue excellence in everything we field, it is our belief that our alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff, and community members will be pivotal partners in that very pursuit.

With sincere thanks from Alexander Gymnasium,

Christyn Abaray
Director of Athletics

#LUVikes4Life

Launching the Crowdfund for Lawrence Athletics! #LUVikes4Life

Dear Members of the Lawrence Faculty & Staff Community:

Since my arrival in April 2016, I have received many questions about how you can directly support the cause of advancing Vikings Athletics. It is my pleasure to reach out to you today and share a very exciting opportunity.

Today, we are launching Once a Viking, Always a Viking: The Crowdfund for LU Athletics. This is focused on directly benefiting all of our 21 NCAA Varsity Athletics programs at Lawrence!

As partners in the meaningful mission of educating and preparing our Lawrentians and Vikings to be leaders in the world, we could use your help. Each sports program is looking to fund individual projects that are focused on enhancing the student-athlete experience, and in the spirit of March Madness, each team is competing for donor support. The overall goal is to have at least 255 donors participate by March 21.

Which team projects will you choose? Who will you tell about the chance to give back to the Vikings? Want to find out more about the unique sports projects? Check out the Crowdfund for LU Athletics website!

The future is brighter for our Vikings student-athletes because of your support.

Yours,

Christyn Abaray
Director of Athletics

#LUVikes4Life

Giving Day: Oct. 11

Lawrence University’s 4th Annual Giving Day is coming up this Wed. Oct. 11! Be sure to Give. Share. Watch. We have a goal of 100 faculty and staff donors on Giving Day this year. Any gift you make will be matched 1:1 to support our students. Also, spread the word on social media or through email. You can find shareable social media images here.

Make sure to catch our live show featuring faculty, staff, students and alumni, 11 am-9 pm. In addition, you can join us in the Viking Room 4:30-9 pm for a happy hour/viewing party to celebrate all things Lawrence and Giving Day.

More information about Giving Day

Full Speed to Full Need campaign hits another milestone

The Office of Development is delighted to announce that Lawrence has reached another milestone in the Full Speed to Full Need (FSFN) campaign: FSFN gifts and pledges now total $67.9 million!

By surpassing the $65 million mark by Dec. 14, we qualified for the final $2.5 million of the anonymous donor’s $30 million match!

These gifts are making a real difference in the lives of Lawrentians. Because of our donors’ generous investments in endowed scholarships:

  • This year, we were able to provide the full demonstrated need for 102 students who otherwise would have had to cover a gap in their financial aid package.

  • The average dollar gap has decreased by 20 percent, making Lawrence more affordable.

  • Persistence toward graduation has significantly increased due to this effort as well as improved mentoring and academic support. The one-year retention rate for all new first-time first-year students from the 2015 cohort is 91 percent—the highest it has been since 2001!

We are grateful to our supporters for helping our students and continuing the tradition of liberal arts excellence at Lawrence.