SHOW ME THE MONEY (or Pledge)...by midnight tonight.

While there is much to celebrate now that Sweet Briar College is saved, our finish line has moved and some hurdles have been added.

In some ways, this feels like the morning after a holiday when you are surrounded by wrapping paper and a stack of bills, but let’s focus for now on what brings us closer to our goals: Recruited students, new leadership, the future unfolding…

We got this….

The Sweet Briar Board and other parties to the three lawsuits against the College reached a Memorandum of Understanding. I shall refrain from expressing my opinion now because I have more important things to share. Help us over this hurdle!

Hurdle #1: Turn over $2.5 million in cash by July 1.

Hurdle #2: Turn over $12 million in cash from converted pledges by September 1.

Hurdle #3: Only pledges made by midnight, June 23, 2015, will count towards the deadline.

Yes, you heard me. As strange as this sounds, only pledges made by midnight on June 23, 2015 can count towards our “finish line” all the way to September.

Want to be counted, MAKE YOUR PLEDGE TODAY! How can you make your pledge today?

Visit www.savingsweetbriar.com
Alert Alexander Haas, our fundraising firm, by emailing Elizabeth Smith: [email protected]

Here is a great graphic provided by Jay Orsi, from the Unsolicited Guru blog:

If you are reading this post AFTER June 23, 2015, please contact me via the comment form below.

And now a word from Saving Sweet Briar Fundraising Chair and future Sweet Briar College board member:

To my dear fellow Sweet Briar supporters –

You all are amazing and I see you rushing to the cause, OUR CAUSE! You have been pledging and donating cash to meet the specified terms of the settlement agreement with enthusiasm and vigor! Your responses have blown the doors right off PayPal.

This morning, I can say with a great deal of certainty that we will convert the $2.5 Million required to trigger the next 30-day deadline. Once we have collected the $2.5 Million, (which may take a few more days due to stock transfers and bank wiring coordination) please remember we have two more hurdles to clear to reach the entire $12 Million cash requirement by September 1. Please remember that the $21 Million pledge update announced last Friday are monies over a five year period. And what we all know in the professional fundraising world is that some attrition is possible due to unforeseen circumstances. That is why we MUST continue our efforts.

Many of you have asked for daily and immediate updates. I only ask for patience. We have volunteer campaign counsel in Atlanta assisting the team of alumnae volunteers and they are doing an extraordinary job. We do not have a Development Office per se (yet!) so this volunteer force is juggling a crush of tasks – receipt of incoming pledges, telephone inquiries, check deposits, and many other important and immediate administrative details. Every detail needs to be right, and we are working around the clock to make sure of that. Please have patience and continue to trust our due diligence process.

Thus far, we have navigated this great challenge to steer our college into the future with grace and fortitude. Now we are working to fulfill our Promise. This endeavor to revive our college has been and will continue to be a marathon. So please stay positive and remember our long term goal! Thank you for your selfless commitment to Saving Sweet Briar.

Yours,
Mary Pope M. Hutson
Class of 1983
Fundraising Chair
Saving Sweet Briar

Stacey Sickels Locke, CFRE, is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She raises funds for Saving Sweet Briar, a charitable organization committed to the future of the College She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), is affiliated (through the University of Maryland) with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.