As you may have read on Page 1, Giving Hearts Day (GHD) was an amazing success for the Unity Medical Center Foundation (UMCF) because of our generous donors. This year’s event was special because we tripled our fundraising goal from last year, which at the time seemed like a stretch. But as we progressed, we were again reminded that if Unity has a need, our supporters don’t hesitate to step up to meet that need. That is truly inspiring!
Our initial GHD fundraising goal was $25,000, about a 10% increase from what we had raised in 2021. But as the Foundation Board was discussing Unity’s needs, the top pick was a continuation from the Harvest Auction in the fall. Our goal then was to raise $120,000 for a new Vocera Communication System, an upgrade from the existing walkie talkies. We had fallen short of that goal. I was glad that the Board opted to finish what we had started.
However, my initial GHD goal of $25,000 was not going to get us there. So we raised our GHD goal to $60,000.
The next step required by Dakota Medical Foundation, which facilitates GHD from Fargo, is to gather matching funds that encourage others to give. And we were absolutely blown away when we received a total of $35,000 in matching funds from eight donors (listed on Page 1). In comparison, we had $8,600 in matching funds last year. It was already more than we had received in total during Giving Hearts Day in 2021.
This is what fundraisers call transformative gifts. Those matching gifts completely changed how we approached Giving Hearts Day and the overall outcome of the event. And more than 180 donors jumped on board with them.
I want to recognize Dakota Medical Foundation and its partner the High Impact Institute for its support leading up to Giving Hearts Day. You may be familiar with former NDSU men’s basketball coach Erv Inniger who was certainly passionate on the court and is now a “coach” for nonprofits including UMCF through High Impact Institute. He is wellknown for encouraging nonprofits (in his coaching voice) to set high fundraising goals and then work hard to attain them. “Think you can get it done, and get it done!” he has said. His encouragement definitely worked for us!