Giving Tuesday is an effort to encourage people to give to their favorite charities during the holiday season.
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Employees and friends of Camden County College raised over $10,000 for student scholarships on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 28, college officials announced. They raised the money by creating a network of Facebook fundraisers to raise money matched by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Giving Tuesday is an effort to encourage people to give to their favorite charities during the holiday season, and takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
“When we found out the Gates Foundation would match funds up to $1,000 per Facebook fundraiser, we reached out to our staff to see if anyone would be interested in creating their own fundraiser, with all donations going to the Foundation as a way of stacking the matched donations,” Camden County College Foundation Development Associate Melissa Daly said. “We created a video showing how to create a Facebook fundraiser, and a social media plan to generate excitement.”
At least 13 people immediately created fundraisers on Facebook to benefit the Camden County College Foundation, according to the college. Foundation funds benefit students directly either via the general fund for tuition scholarships and other academic supports such as book scholarships, or via specific scholarships in memory of individuals.
For example, Camden County College math professor Dr. Kelly Jackson raised a total of $2,400 for her two memorial scholarships funds. One is the Lamar Ortiz Memorial Scholarship Endowment, awarded annually to a Hispanic male with an excellent academic record. The other is the new Nancy Jackson Memorial Scholarship for the top Camden County College female scholar athlete. Jackson’s friends and family collectively raised $6,000 through five individual Facebook fundraisers.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledge was fulfilled by the early morning, but Facebook waived all donation fees so the donations continued to come in throughout the day and evening. Camden County College raised $10,000 before the match. Exact matched funds are pending.
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