IVCC fundraising campaign aims to prove why every donation matters

A single mom struggling through nursing school and a young woman seeking purpose found a way forward at Illinois Valley Community College, and they are not alone. Those women and other students will share their stories about IVCC’s influence on their lives as the college launches its 2024-25 Give Today for Tomorrow fundraising campaign.

The campaign is open. View the stories and make a donation online at www.ivcc.edu/givingtuesday. Giving Tuesday is a global initiative to encourage generosity and focus support on community causes and charities.

“Most who volunteered to tell their stories have received or are receiving scholarships. Some now repay that generosity by establishing scholarships or as donors. Still others who now work at the college are reminded daily of how lives are changed,” said IVCC Foundation Executive Director Tracy Beattie, who became director in fall 2023.

She prefers to characterize the fundraiser by another term: “friend raising.”

“These are real people who have seen the difference college can make with the help of the community. They are individuals whose lives have been truly changed, and now they want to give back, to help as they have been helped. They remind us that anyone can be a donor,” Beattie said in a news release.

For example, the student nurse who pledged to give back if she could just be given the strength to finish her degree established scholarships for other nursing students. The other young woman received support from the college, which showed her how to look beyond a vision impairment toward a university education, a career and community activism, IVCC said in the release.

“She saw that we believed in her,” Beattie said.

Donations are shots of confidence, not just infusions of cash, one of the donors wrote in a testimonial: “The confidence they gain from receiving a scholarship can motivate them to overcome obstacles and push them to achieve even greater things.”

The year’s campaign kicked off with a successful employee-giving segment in which more than 100 employees raised about $25,000 to support the foundation’s array of scholarships and other student-assistance programs.

“I am so touched by the generosity of staff and faculty,” Beattie said. “We received donations from new employees and from colleagues who had never given before, which showed such a level of commitment and support of the foundation and our students.”

Beattie believes the employee campaign sends a strong message to the community and to students.

Students also notice the results, as banners listing employee donors’ names are displayed around campus to celebrate the campaign’s effectiveness.

“I want the students to see how many people support them and how many staff and faculty believe in them – so much so that we put our dollars behind them,” Beattie said.

The Give Today for Tomorrow campaign continues through spring, when it will wrap up the college’s yearlong centennial celebration with a gala April 12. Donations by check also are accepted at the IVCC Foundation, 815 N. Orlando Smith Road, Oglesby, IL 61348. Questions can be directed to Beattie at Tracy_Beattie@ivcc.edu or alumni and donor relations coordinator Susan Monroe at susan_monroe@ivcc.edu.