A billion-dollar day



It is very hard to believe, but I am about one month shy of celebrating my five-year anniversary working for the OSU Foundation. Ever since my first few weeks as an intern, I’ve always imagined being here for a long time, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that I would hit this milestone. I'm just shocked by how quickly it got here!

I started work smack-dab in the middle of the busiest fundraising initiative the Foundation had seen. Boone Pickens had made his incredible $100 million matching gift for chairs and professorships, and the entire Foundation was working fast and furiously to match it by getting the word out to donors, soliciting and booking gifts before the state of Oklahoma changed its matching policy. It was 40 days and 40 nights of hard work. While it had its incredibly frustrating, not sure how we are going to do everything, pull your hair out moments, it brought everyone closer together. We were a team working to accomplish a goal bigger than any one of us could achieve. I cannot really take credit for any of this success because at the time I was still learning what I really did at the Foundation, but it was fun to be a part of it.

Today we celebrated another huge milestone in the Branding Success Campaign. Since December 2007 we have raised $1 billion for OSU! One billion. I can’t even fathom it. And while I do feel my actions both as an employee and a donor have contributed to our success this time around, it’s still not my victory. It’s just an incredible reminder of the power of generosity and the good in people. What a blessing it is for me to get to be a part of making people’s dreams come true. Not only the dreams of students and faculty members who are gaining an education and furthering their careers here, but also the dreams of donors who have achieved success and want to contribute to something greater than themselves. Together, we are changing the world in such a positive way. Day-in and day-out some of the magic can get lost in the details, but at the end of the day when I think about what I do, I get warm fuzzies. That’s why I’m still here, and I’m proud to call this my profession. Congratulations to everyone who has had a hand in this campaign both past and present, near and far. I think even my father could agree that it's a great day to be a Cowboy!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love Text

Image
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I LOVE the first Sex and the City Movie. The second, not so much, but I’m pretty sure everyone in America agrees with me on that one. I watched it while I was sick last week. In the movie, there’s an exchange between Carrie and Big that goes a little something like this: C: “Have you ever written me a love letter?” B: “Does a love fax count?” C: “When have I EVER gotten a love fax?” B: “Oh, I'm sure my secretary sent you one...at some point. What can I tell you, baby? It's just not my style. Besides, those guys had to write. They were separated from their loves by wars and hundreds and hundreds of miles. I'm right here. Hello. You make me very happy.” C: “Yeah, yeah. Put it in writing.” Comic genius. Anyway, that got me thinking that Kyle and I rarely ever stop to focus on what we love about each other. Unfortunately we spend far too much time pointing out things we wish the other would do differently.
Read more

A Yellow Brick Farewell

Image
Written August 18, 2017: Well it's finally happening. This weekend, we are packing boxes and preparing to move out of our little yellow brick house. I can't help but be sentimental as I think about all the life we've lived here. It has been a wonderful first home for us. We both agree that if we could pick it up and move it, we would. But it's time to start a new chapter. Life has changed in so many ways over the past seven years. In these four walls, we have experienced it all - highs, lows and plateaus. (And no, I am not just referring to our house hunt, which was brutal for everyone.) I am so grateful for where we are today. God has blessed us in so many ways. I started this blog to document our lives, and I am so glad to have all of these yellow brick memories to look back on. But as we enter this new chapter, I am finding my devotion to capturing the moment is often keeping me from living in it. I don't want to hold so tightly anymore. I am ready to l
Read more

Independence Day

Image
Where did this week go? It seems like the 4th of July was just yesterday, but I realize I'm a little delinquent with this post. Last weekend was a very long one for me - four days to be exact, and I loved every minute of it. I especially loved Monday because for the first time in a very long time, Kyle had a holiday (besides Christmas or Thanksgiving) off! We weren't incredibly productive, but we got to spend time with the Fox family and Tom, so it was a pretty good day. Stillwater's fireworks were on Sunday, so we invited Amanda and Kurtis over for a cookout. Then we drove across town to Kim and Trey's so we could have a front row seat for the show. They weren't there, but they were kind enough to let us sit in their driveway. :) We had a great time and were able to really celebrate this year, as opposed to last year when Kyle was still healing from his surgery. I really enjoy the 4th of July. When I was younger it meant getting together at Grandma and Grandpa Tayl
Read more