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It started with a $10,000 challenge gift from a single donor. Could Lee University alumni work together and donate $10,000 to match his gift? When an alumnus heard about the goal he offered another $10,000 challenge to encourage the university to get 100 new donors. Thus was created the “10-10-10 campaign.”

“It is exciting,” said Dr. Jerome Hammond, Vice President for University Relations. “We know our alumni are up to the challenge. The real task is promotion. If our alumni are aware of the campaign we will be successful in both areas, money raised and new donors.”

Hammond and his team decided to create a day of giving. Using the number “10” as a starting point they came up with the idea of raising $10,000 on Thursday, October 10 (10/10) by asking alumni to give $10. “We thought that this would be a fun way to get the campaign in people’s minds,” Hammond recalled. “We also thought that $10 was an amount most alumni could afford.”

As an interesting twist, for every gift given on October 10, the donor can create a 140-character message that will be placed in a time capsule and sealed in the wall of the new Communication Arts Building. “The money is going to help build the facility so we thought it made perfect sense to create a way to acknowledge the many donors who will help us meet this challenge,” Hammond said.

For more information on the campaign or to give go to www.10forlee.com or call 423-614-8310.