Lion - Fall 2018 - Build Relationships, Expand Opportunities

Lion - Fall 2018 - Build Relationships, Expand Opportunities

An essential element of the Division of Institutional Advancement is the expansion of the University's financial capacity by building fruitful relationships within the private sector. In concert with the University's new strategic plan, “Reimagining the Legacy: Learn. Liberate. Lead,” Institutional Advancement is strengthening these strategic partnerships to leverage resources and assets for the benefit of student success. In doing so, the division has enhanced its own capacity to achieve this end with the recent addition of a corporate and foundation relations officer . 

Over the last three fiscal years, the University has received more than $2.1 million from more than 50 businesses, foundations, and other private entities. Gifts from companies such as PECO ($39,500 since 2015) and Wells Fargo ($45,200 since 2015), and foundations such as the Elmer Roe Deaver Foundation ($480,579 since 2015), have been instrumental in filling the funding gaps that many of our students face in financing their education. This year and in the future we will be building on that momentum by leveraging existing relationships and establishing new ones with the help of the entire Lincoln community.

Lincoln University faculty, staff alumni, and friends play a special role in the University's ability to garner support from private industry and the philanthropic sector. All of us can use our valuable influences in the world beyond the campus to benefit current students and further the institution's growth.

For example, if your employer has a matching gifts program, the impact of your donation to Lincoln can be doubled. Company's such as Aramark will match their employees' gifts at a 1:1 ratio up to $2,000 per individual.

Or, if you volunteer your time at a Lincoln event, program, or by serving on a committee, the University may be  eligible to apply for corporate gifts from your company or its foundation.

As Thurgood Marshall '30 once said, "None of us got to where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps." It truly takes a village to equip a scholar with the resources needed to reach excellence and advance the Lincoln legacy. Consider how you can use your influence to give a student a boost.

Start with your workplace by asking how to apply for corporate gifts from your company's foundation or for more information about its matching gifts program.


This story originally appeared in the Fall 2018 Lion.