{"id":12812,"date":"2023-09-25T18:49:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T18:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=12812"},"modified":"2024-06-28T18:15:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T18:15:28","slug":"stories-from-great-returns-augsburgs-largest-ever-fundraising-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2023\/09\/25\/stories-from-great-returns-augsburgs-largest-ever-fundraising-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories from Great Returns<\/em>, Augsburg\u2019s largest-ever fundraising campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Augsburg University\u2019s Great Returns: We\u2019re All In<\/em> campaign exceeded its goal by raising more than $128 million before its conclusion earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The largest campaign in Augsburg\u2019s history, Great Returns<\/em> invests in the university\u2019s long-term stability. In addition to providing targeted gifts to endowed funds for scholarships and teaching, donors supported Augsburg\u2019s mission through unrestricted gifts, which allow the university to respond to its most critical needs.<\/p>\n

Each one of the campaign\u2019s nearly 15,000 benefactors has made a profound impact on the institution. Here are some of their stories:<\/p>\n

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\"Augsburg \u201cOne of the reasons I reinvest in the Augsburg experience, as I call the curriculum, is that it is indeed a value-added experience that provides individuals with the opportunity to excel in any endeavor they choose. As a graduate, you are now a very critical thinker, able to articulate and demonstrate and communicate your values and viewpoints from a position of authority. You are now ready to be a difference-maker and to lead others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Will Jones \u201997<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Augsburg \u201cAugsburg helped me cultivate vital skills such as critical thinking and leadership\u2014skills that continue to serve me today, and that\u2019s why I give. The feeling of giving back to the place that made me who I am today not only gives me personal pleasure, but it brings joy to other people\u2019s lives. I encourage anyone to give what they can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lewis Nelson \u201900<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cChemistry was my passion. God is my passion. I came to Augsburg as a searching, struggling teen. I loved chemistry. I didn\u2019t know what to think about God. My father was a pastor. I certainly didn\u2019t want to be a pastor. My professors wanted me to be a doctor. But in the early \u201970s a female couldn\u2019t think about being a doctor and also a mom, and I wanted to marry and have kids. And so, I\u2019d say that my time at Augsburg was about identity and seeking what was next. My science professors helped me to wrestle with all parts of who I was. For that, I\u2019m most grateful. I started out as a teacher in Papua New Guinea, then worked at 3M as a chemist, then became a stay-at-home mom, and now I\u2019m a Lutheran pastor. In all ways, I\u2019m grateful for my four years at Augsburg. Why am I endowing a chemistry scholarship? Because my parents couldn\u2019t afford to help me financially, but in their older years they were able to model the miracle of generosity. I had a good enough summer job that I didn\u2019t need to work during the school year with the scholarships that I received. So, I could devote myself to my studies. I hope to bless another student with the same gift so that they can be strong going out into the world to be a blessing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2014 Rebecca Sullivan \u201974<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Top image:\u00a0Regent Emeritus\u00a0Matt Entenza<\/b>,\u00a0<\/i>President\u00a0Paul Pribbenow<\/strong>,\u00a0and Regent Emeritus\u00a0Paul Mueller \u201984<\/strong>\u00a0at the public launch of the\u00a0<\/em>Great Returns: We\u2019re All In\u00a0campaign, May 2022 <\/em>(Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Augsburg University\u2019s Great Returns: We\u2019re All In campaign exceeded its goal by raising more than $128 million before its conclusion earlier this year. The largest campaign in Augsburg\u2019s history, Great Returns invests in the university\u2019s long-term stability. In addition to providing targeted gifts to endowed funds for scholarships and teaching, donors supported Augsburg\u2019s mission <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":12855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[236],"class_list":["post-12812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-the-quad","tag-fall-2023"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12812"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13194,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12812\/revisions\/13194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}