March means Employee Giving Month at BYU

When it comes to providing much-needed opportunities for students, BYU employees “March” to a different drummer. March is Employee Giving Month, and BYU employees are among the nation’s most philanthropic.

Last year a record-tying 75 percent of BYU employees donated during the March campaign. According to Gordon Gibb, chairman of the 2012 Employee Giving volunteer committee, the funds represent just one more way employees are helping to prepare students for a bright future.

“What employees donated in 2011 funded the equivalent of 142 full-tuition scholarships or 361 mentored-learning grants. That’s a lot of lives forever affected for good,” Gibb said.

The students Gibb knows who have received financial assistance express deep appreciation. “They recognize that we care for them both in and out of the classroom,” he said. “They view our sacrifices as selfless investments in their future.”

This year employees will be seeing posters around campus that feature faculty and staff with students and the campaign slogan “I’m investing in BYU.” Darla Seamons from the BYU Annual Giving Office likes this approach because “it communicates that an employee’s investment is another way to connect with students.”

The four poster employees for 2012 are Lori Glenn from Financial Services; David Moore from the J. Reuben Clark Law School; Susanne Roper from the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences; and Kelly McDonald from Information Technology.

Physical Facilities is spotlighted in this year’s brochure. The department decided in 2010 to offer employees the opportunity to designate Employee Giving contributions for scholarships that would be awarded to students working within Physical Facilities. Ole Smith, Physical Facilities vice president, says the result has been rewarding.

“Employee participation has increased and the donations have provided 10 new $1,000 scholarships for our students,” he explains. “When we called in the students to let them know of their scholarships, it was immediately apparent how grateful they were. Some were emotional to the point of tears. It was quite a touching moment for me, too.”

Smith says their goal is to have every shop and area within Physical Facilities provide a student scholarship. “What a difference that would make!” he exclaims.

Watch for your Employee Giving invitation and capitalize on this opportunity to connect with BYU students.

Writer: Rick Stockton

Photo by Mark A. Philbrick/BYU Photo