According to the article, Patel did not want Clarkfield to be without a dentist after his retirement and sought a way to “give back to the community that he spread his roots in.”

Read, “Dr. Patel retires with an abundance of smiles” on the Advocate Tribune site.

The post Augsburg alumnus and business owner leaves small community big gift appeared first on News and Media.

The donation originally was announced in early 2015, with the donors remaining unnamed until the recent groundbreaking ceremony. In a statement Evangeline Hagfors said, “Adding our name signals that we stand with Augsburg. We support the CSBR project and the many benefits it will provide faculty, students, and the Augsburg community.”

Read on the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal site.

The post Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal covers Hagfors donation appeared first on News and Media.

The post President Paul Pribbenow earns fundraising professional award appeared first on News and Media.

Augsburg College’s Give to the Max Day campaign also was mentioned in an Associated Press article on GiveMN website difficulties. The story was picked up by media ranging from����in North Carolina to��KAAL-TV��in southern Minnesota and from the��San Francisco Chronicle��to��The Forum��of Fargo-Moorhead.

The post Heather Riddle discusses Give to the Max Day in Star Tribune article appeared first on News and Media.

Augsburg College is honored to announce that it has received an unrestricted $10 million philanthropic gift from a 1965 alumnus.

The donor’s generous contribution will support a new academic building that will house a number of the College’s academic programs including biology, business, chemistry, computer science, math, physics, psychology, and religion.

“This tremendous gift will make possible our continued commitment to academic excellence, to the hands-on learning that is one of the hallmarks of the College, and to the continued best-use of our 23-acre campus,” said Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow. “Augsburg is a 143-year-old anchor institution in the heart of Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. This gift puts Augsburg on the path of being a college for the 21st century, and one that continues to deliver academic excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies.”

“Augsburg College has found many ways to innovate and evolve since I was a student—while at the same time maintaining the core values that were so appealing to me,” said Augsburg College Regent Steve Wehrenberg ’78, chief executive officer of Campbell Mithun. “This gift will ensure the College remains a caring, inspiring, and delightful place for students of all kinds to learn and grow.”

New building fund exceeds $23 million

The $10 million gift brings to more than $23 million the total funds for the new building. The Augsburg College Board of Regents will continue to monitor progress on the campaign and the College’s cash position and debt capacity to determine when to set a date for groundbreaking on the first stage of the building. The total cost of the building is estimated at more than $60 million.

“In May 2012, the Regents set calendar year 2014 as a target for beginning construction, a goal they believe is feasible, especially given the excitement this lead gift will engender with other prospective donors,” Pribbenow said.

The donor, who asked to remain anonymous, is a long-time supporter of the College and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and business administration.

Augsburg College is set in a vibrant neighborhood at the heart of the Twin Cities, and offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and nine graduate degrees to nearly 4,000 students of diverse backgrounds. Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.��The Augsburg experience is supported by an��engaged community��that is committed to intentional diversity��in its life and work. An Augsburg education is defined by excellence��in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values��of the Lutheran church, and shaped by its urban and global settings.

The post $10 million gift to Augsburg College will launch new academic building appeared first on News and Media.

This week Augsburg students, friends, faculty, and staff members celebrate the vital role philanthropy plays in the College’s culture with multiple on- and off-campus opportunities.

The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community and philanthropic initiatives make the institution’s distinct education possible.

Give to the Max Day

GiveMn, an online resource that helps Minnesotans donate to the state’s non-profit community, will host its annual Give to the Max Day on Thursday, November 15. Augsburg College is pleased to participate in Give to the Max Day, and a $10 donation has the possibility of turning into $1,000.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on November 15, one donor will be selected each hour to receive a “golden ticket” worth $1,000 to donate to the non-profit of his or her choice.

2012 National Philanthropy Day Celebration

Augsburg College administrators, staff members, and friends will attend a National Philanthropy Day Celebration on Friday, November 16, and host representatives from The Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation, the winner of this year’s Outstanding Philanthropic Organization award.

Augsburg College nominated the Pohlad Family Foundation for this recognition, citing the foundation as “one of Minnesota’s quiet philanthropic heroes.”

Hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Minnesota Chapter, National Philanthropy Day honors “local individuals and businesses who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, as well as generosity of time and resources, to encourage and advance philanthropy,” according to the AFP website.

Through a written nomination, Laura Roller, senior director of corporate, foundation and government relations, detailed how the “Pohlad Foundation approaches philanthropy as a collaborative enterprise that brings together community-based organizations, neighborhood leaders, communities of faith, schools and others to jointly address issues facing the community.”

According to Roller, the Pohlad Family Foundation was the first foundation contributor to the Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL) when that program moved to Augsburg College in 2009.

MNUDL serves young people in Minneapolis and St. Paul through academic competitive debate, and students in the program had a 100 percent on-time high school graduation rate during the past two years. More than 330 youths participate annually, of whom nearly 70 percent are students of color and approximately 75 percent are from low-income families.

MNUDL is assisted by an advisory board and funded through individual donations, foundations, corporations, and the legal community. During the National Philanthropy Day Celebration, AFP will show a video on the Pohlad Family Foundation’s involvement in MNUDL and feature commentary by Amy Cram Helwich, Augsburg’s MNUDL executive director.

Campus Kitchen’s Turkeypalooza to benefit from Finnegans matching funds

The Augsburg College Campus Kitchen program will mark the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with its annual Turkeypalooza meal service, made possible by a food and fund drive. Now in its 10th year, Turkeypalooza expands Campus Kitchen’s ongoing philanthropic work in order to provide a traditional holiday dinner for the Minneapolis community.

This year, donations made to the program will get a boost on Give to the Max Day from Augsburg alumna Jacquie Berglund ’87.

Berglund, the founder of Finnegans Beer, will match up to a total of $1,500 in donations made to Campus Kitchen’s Turkeypalooza through Finnegans Beer and Community Fund.

Campus Kitchen representatives will collect cash, frozen turkeys, potatoes, green beans, and other items from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a table in the Christensen Center on Thursday and Friday, November 15 and 16.

Campus Kitchen makes healthy meals accessible to residents of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood year round. The program��typically shares surplus food donated by A’viands—Augsburg’s dining services provider—with local non-profit organizations.

The Turkeypalooza event is unique in that it enables Campus Kitchen to serve Thanksgiving-specific cuisine prepared from ingredients donated by Augsburg students, faculty, staff, and friends. Turkeypalooza requires huge Augsburg community participation—food and monetary donations allow Campus Kitchen to deliver and serve hundreds of Thanksgiving meals at four sites: Brian Coyle Community Center, Common Bond Communities, Ebenezer Tower, and Peace House.

To learn more about Campus Kitchen volunteer opportunities or how to donate to Turkeypalooza, visit the program’s website.

In addition to preparing and serving meals, Campus Kitchen manages the Augsburg Community Garden and increases access to healthy food through��the West Bank farmers markets. Campus Kitchen offers Augsburg students the opportunity to engage in service learning, leadership development, and community building. AFP honored the program with its Outstanding Youth Award on National Philanthropy Day 2009.

The post Augsburg College celebrates philanthropy appeared first on News and Media.

The interactive donor recognition event recognized annual donors, members of the Sven Oftedal planned giving society, donors who have made substantial cumulative gifts, and those who have given for 15 or more consecutive years. Throughout the evening, guests met Auggie donors and friends by playing an “Auggie Gives” bingo game, had their photo taken with Auggie Eagle, and created a chandelier display to share how Augsburg helped them find their calling. The display symbolizes how their calling and their gifts rain down blessings on Augsburg’s students.

The event concluded with dessert, an Auggie Pride trivia game, interviews with the President and Augsburg’s newest Fulbright Scholar, and videos including a special invitation to support Augsburg’s future Center for Science, Business, and Religion.

The post Celebration of Philanthropy highlights record year appeared first on News and Media.

This year, the Class of 2015 had the most donors in the Feed the Pig campaign. On April 10, members of the winning class celebrated their victory by enjoying a party at Augsburg House with President Pribbenow and his family, courtesy of The Augsburg Fund.

What is the Feed the Pig campaign?

Each Augsburg student is given an individual piggy bank to fill, and many Augsburg faculty and staff also “adopt” a pig to help support a particular class or student. Throughout the school year, students collect spare change into their piggy banks and deposit their change into a group jar during “Piggy Round-Up Days.” Each student who donates the change in their bank is considered a donor. At the end of the school year, the class with the most donors wins a party at the President’s House. The money raised in the Feed the Pig campaign goes to a scholarship for one lucky student.

The Feed the Pig campaign was started in 2010 by Augsburg’s Office of Institutional Advancement to raise awareness about philanthropy and the importance of donor support. This project aims to educate students about ways in which they can support the College. Every year, Augsburg relies on thousands of alumni, parents, friends—and now students—to ensure that current Auggies can have an outstanding, affordable Augsburg College education.

For more information about how to get involved with the Feed the Pig project, contact Jen Jung, assistant director of Annual Giving, at 612-330-1179 or jung@augsburg.edu.

Thanks to all who participated in the Feed the Pig Campaign this year!

The post Class of 2015 feeds the pig appeared first on News and Media.

This event is the first in a series of donor recognition events that will be held in the 2011-12 academic year. The next event will be a holiday dinner hosted by Paul and Abigail Pribbenow in conjunction with Advent Vespers in December, followed by the annual scholarship brunch in April. The series also includes a September boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka for young alumni donors and a celebration of student philanthropic achievement with a class party in April for the class that wins the “Feed the Pig” contest. These invitation-only events are designed to recognize the many levels of giving from alumni, friends of Augsburg, and current faculty, staff, and students.

Thank you to all our donors! You truly are helping Auggies change the world.

More information about upcoming events.

See from the Celebration of Philanthropy event.

Watch the about Auggies changing the world.

The post A celebration of philanthropy appeared first on News and Media.