Wolfpack Giving Gets the Gold

An outpouring of giving by university employees, led by faculty and staff at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill, helped the State Employees Combined Campaign reverse a four-year decline in fundraising. The 2012 effort grew by 5.5 percent over 2011, raising a whopping $4.4 million for hundreds of charities supporting children and families, the environment and the arts. The last time the campaign saw an increase in giving was in 2007, before the economic downturn.

Donations from employees of the UNC system jumped by 7.2 percent last year, netting an additional $180,000 over 2011. The lion’s share came from UNC-Chapel Hill employees, who increased giving by $111,000 in 2012, raising a total of $894,000 through their “Carolina Cares, Carolina Shares” campaign. That, it turns out, is the largest amount raised by an organization in SECC history.

But when awards were given out at a campaign wrap-up event at the North Carolina Museum of Art earlier this month, NC State edged out Carolina for the gold Chairman’s Award of Merit. That’s because the top award is based on per capita giving, and NC State led every university with 5,000+ employees, including UNC-Chapel Hill, in that measure. NC State employees increased their giving by more than $58,000 in 2012, raising a total of $647,000 in the “Wolfpack Gives Back” campaign.

NC State also led in the “Growth in Participation” category, adding 573 new donors to Carolina’s 330 last year.

But the Tar Heels didn’t leave the event empty handed. They took top honors for “Growth in Giving.”