Jesus’ miracle of feeding a crowd of 5,000 with only five loaves of bread and two fish is exactly what comes to mind when a Hope College staff member thinks about Day of Giving, our biggest giving event of the year.
The person, who wishes to remain anonymous, said they were inspired to sponsor a match on Day of Giving because of the multiplication effect. The match/challenge sponsor’s original gift is multiplied when it motivates others to give and those who give have their own gift multiplied.
Here’s how matches and challenges work. For a match, a donor agrees to multiply donations made to a fund of their choosing. If you make a $50 gift, for example, it would be doubled to $100 with a dollar-for-dollar match. Sometimes, donors will even double, triple or quadruple a gift with their match.
In the case of a challenge, the donor would pledge to give a predetermined amount of money to a fund of their choice after a certain number of donors had also given to the fund.
“We are the hands and feet of Christ,” the match sponsor said. “Miracles are done through ordinary people, which is you and me.”
While still working out all the details, the donor has pledged to match gifts made to Hope Forward up to a specified amount, which will cover daily program expenses.
“There are some donors who can cover the full cost of tuition for a student on their own,” the donor said. “I’m not in that position. But with others, collectively, we can. Together, we can carry one another.”
This donor made their first gift after graduating from college and landing their first job, following in the footsteps of their grandparents. While one set of grandparents gave from a position of wealth, the others gave out of lesser means. “To see generosity from that side was equally if not more impactful,” the donor explained.
Generosity is a primary motivation for this donor’s decision to sponsor a match for Hope Forward, which provides fully funded tuition for a limited number of students. The ultimate goal is to raise enough funds so that every student will receive fully funded tuition and agree to give back to Hope at any amount they choose after graduation so others will have the same opportunity.
As a faculty and staff member, the anonymous donor has seen the burden that student loan debt places on students and their families. “Over the years, I have seen this in scholarship applications,” they said.“It is humbling to see the burden that some young people are carrying on their own.”
“There’s such a potential for students to make a shift from debt to a life of generosity,” added the donor. “It’s huge. That’s what Hope Forward is all about — students going from lives shackled with debt to lives of generosity.”
Mark your calendar for Hope’s biggest giving event of the year! Day of Giving starts at midnight on Thursday, February 20 and continues until noon on Friday, February 21. Check our website at hope.edu/give2hope to track the progress of all the matches and challenges. You can explore hundreds of funds and make a gift at the website, too.