Gumby Gives Day on April 5 at California Lutheran University, was an entire day dedicated to raising money to support the Cal Lutheran community giving.  This was a 24-hour opportunity for students, staff, parents, alumni and other Cal Lutheran community members to donate money to the CLU Annual Fund.

The CLU Annual Fund is a society on campus whose mission is to raise money so that students can be exposed to the best opportunities during their attendance.

On Gumby Gives Day, a total of $79,142.09 was raised to be used on campus “where the need is greatest in a given year,” Senior Director of the CLU Annual Fund, Michelle Spurgeon said.

“Cal Lutheran and its students rely on philanthropic giving. Without it, financial aid would be limited and all of our programs weakened,” President Chris Kimball said in an email interview. “It is really heart-warming to see how many people stepped up to support the university and its students.”

According to information provided by Spurgeon and the CLU Annual Fund, certain percentages of the money raised are used for different areas on campus.  The money is allocated as follows: 32 percent toward scholarships, 24 percent for instruction, 14 percent institutional support, 13 percent student services, 9 percent auxiliary services, 4 percent academic support and 3 percent public service.

Although the money donated follows a guideline for what percentage of the total goes to which part of the school, “the business office usually decides where the greatest need is,” Spurgeon said.“Where the need is greatest changes every year, but a majority of the money goes towards student scholarships. We know that is our priority.”

“By giving any amount to the school, future students are able to secure scholarships to help them get a Cal Lutheran education,” Dalia Flores, phonathon supervisor and president of student philanthropy council,l said.

Flores said she would like to see the money go to wherever the most students could benefit from it.

By getting the word out early and taking to social media, the CLU Annual Fund was able to raise  a large amount of money in such little time.

“We did a lot of it through social media. We had social media tool kits that we sent to some of our alumni and students; they then sent it to people that they knew through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get the word out about Gumby Gives Day. It was like a wild fire,” Spurgeon said.

The majority of the money raised was through online donations due to the amount of emails sent throughout the day.

Aside from regular donations made throughout the day, the CLU Annual Fund had large donations for meeting certain goals.

According to Spurgeon, the goal was to reach $10,000 in order to get a matching donation from 1988 alumni Susie Lundeen-Smuck, but after that was quickly raised, the CLU Annual Fund reached out to another donor, Rod Gilbert who agreed to match the next $10,000 raised.

Kimball,  who donated $5,000 to the fund, said he saw the day as a great way to give back.

“To generate such enthusiasm in a single day is just great,” Kimball said in an email interview.

Dean Hendrix
Staff Writer
Published April 20th, 2016