A month into the “I am a Patriot” campaign, alumni donations have reached seven percent participation and netted almost seven thousand dollars towards the goal of $25,000.

“It’s been fantastic. I’m really excited,” Vice President of Institutional Advancement Kurt Sudbrink said. “This is the most important fundraising initiative we have now.”

The campaign is crucial to the school because it works to benefit the unrestricted gifts aspect of the annual fund, which helps fill the eight percent gap in operating costs that tuition does not cover.

“[The ‘I am a Patriot’ campaign] is our way of educating [alumni].  We need new technology, we need to make this place a beautiful campus, [and] we need to make sure we have the best teachers and programs available,” Sudbrink said.

He added, “In general, it’s about awareness. A lot of time people aren’t aware that John Carroll needs their support. They may think that their college needs their support or the United Way needs their support, but they don’t realize a school like ours needs support.”

Donors who have responded directly to the challenge have given on average $90. Sudbrink said, “If we can get donors giving that, we’ll definitely be very, very close to our goal.”

The effort to court more donors will continue, as a “more intensive phone campaign,” according to Sudbrink, and will be pursued in May and June.

In addition, following the alumni event in San Francisco, Sudbrink estimates that the school has “eight to 10,000 dollars in requests” for donations to the annual fund currently sitting on the table.

Also, donations to the annual fund continue to increase each year, according to Sudbrink, who said, “We are nine percent ahead of where we were last year in unrestricted giving. We’re beyond  where we were at the end of June last year.”

Part of this , Sudbrink said, is because there are more people on staff to fundraise than in years past. He said, “[Director of Development] Laura [Lang] has done an exceptional job, and now, we just have more people to reach out.”

He added, “Those are the people who as you continue to get them involved, become closer to school and really want to support the priorities of the school. That’s what it’s all about, growing that group of people [that donate].”

Kate Froehlich can be reached for comment at [email protected].