More Than $400,000 in Donations

January 14, 2010 • By Aaron Koepper,
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HARRISONBURG, Va. — While the Office of Financial Aid stopped its official soliciting efforts for Madison for Keeps at the end of last 2009 that doesn’t mean the end of donations to the program.

This semester, College of Business Professor Mert Tokman’s Principles of Marketing class will break into four teams and create four fundraising events over the course of the semester to raise money for Madison for Keeps.

“We did a similar project in the 2008 fall semester where we worked with outside charity organizations and marketed fundraisers,” Tokman said. “In the past they brought in guest speakers, hosted basketball tournaments, pretty much whatever they wanted.”

In the meantime, $92,418 remains to be distributed from the fundraising efforts to students who qualify this semester and next year.

Over the past semester, 3,359 donors raised a combined $419,175, and more donations are expected.

The one-semester program was designed to give out extra financial aid to students who were unable to pay college even with the loans and financial aid they already received.

“We’ve been able to help everyone who’s applied and qualified,” said Andy Perrine, JMU’s vice president of marketing and communications. “But we expect to see people coming in.”

Perrine said the generosity of donors was far greater than expected and the program has been a huge success.

The largest single donations — $25,000 — came from the Alumni Association and an anonymous JMU alumna and her husband. Many donors were JMU alumni, but groups such as the Student Government Association and the Student Occupation Therapy Association also raised money. The Girls of Madison Calendar also donated proceeds.

“We didn’t want to set a specific goal, we wanted to help as many people as we could,” Perrine said. “We didn’t think we would raise $400,000, and the fact we helped is beyond our wildest hopes.”

Each of the 90 students received an average of $3,100 each, with some students getting the money for expenses fully paid by the program.

“They covered most of what my federal loans didn’t,” said junior Anthony Bowman, a music education major. “I have $300 left, but that’s a lot more manageable than $7,000. Without Madison for Keeps, I wouldn’t be here.”

Junior Courtney Smith, expressed similar sentiments in a video testimonial on the initiative’s Web site.

“I applied because I didn’t have any other options,” Smith said. “I don’t think I can say thank you enough.”

While the initiative might be officially over for now, that doesn’t mean it’s gone for good.

“The economy is slowly improving but unemployment is still down,” Perrine said. “We believe we might see the same issues going into next year, and if that’s true, we’ll bring it back.

Contact Aaron Koepper at koeppead@jmu.edu

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