Over the two day fundraiser campaign, TxWes Alumni Relations raised $77,416 from more than 200 donors for the Wesleyan Fund. TxWes Giving Days, a 48-hour campaign to encourage alumni, faculty, staff, families of students, and students themselves to give back to their community, were the work of Jeri Chipman.

Jeri Chipman, the assistant director of annual giving, said the fund helps scholarships and supports programming and facilities as well as other operational needs for the university. She said the goal this year was $70,000, which is a bigger number than what has been done in past years.

“I know students don’t have a lot of extra money and we’re not hitting everybody up to make big gifts. But every university relies heavily on donations from alumni, friends, corporations, and the foundation; that’s a big part of how Texas Wesleyan is funded. Really what we’re asking of students today, more than anything, is to help spread the word and share on social media.”

Students were asked to scan a code that would take them to the RamsGive site where they were prompted to send a donation of as little as $5. Students who could not send in a donation were asked to instead share the information by sending the link out via text message and taking pictures of the table to post on their social media with the hashtag #ramsgive.

Students could then sign up to be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card and get a cookie. Most students who stopped at the table did not previously know about Giving Days but took the opportunity to learn more and either donated or signed up for the raffle.

Biology first year, Jocelyn Lopez, said she was just passing through the Martin Center when she saw the table. “I thought it was pretty interesting how they’re giving back to the scholars. I was going to donate but I didn’t have my card on me, but I still signed up for [the raffle],” she said.

Maritza Garcia, a third year finance major, was able to create a social media post for the table and learn more about the effort. “I think social media will make a big difference [for everyone]. I checked out the website and I can see it gives us a good feeling, being more involved because we’re helping so I think it’s pretty cool,” she said.

Caleb Bartlett, first year sports communication major and football player, donated to the fund because of the Sarah Croft Student Athlete Challenge. The challenge in question asked for 10 gifts from student athletes to unlock a $5,000 gift from Croft who is a 1977 education graduate who played volleyball, softball, and basketball.

“I think it’s always cool when alumni come back and try to help out the community. When I leave, I hope to come back and help out in any way I can,” he said.