From the Director of Development: September, 2017

G. Elizabeth Maxwell, Director of Development
919-330-6603, text
252-744-2324, office
Maxwellg17@ecu.edu

Fall: A time for reflection and gratitude

Fall is a natural time for reflection. Gratitude often follows reflection as we slow down enough to become more aware of everything. We have many gifts, when we stop to notice, in addition to our breath. Still even with the first push of the new semester behind us, challenges abound. Yet pausing for reflection and observation is important.

I am thankful to have met so many of you since starting last March. Whether we met for coffee, a meal, or a visit in your home or office, I appreciate all you have shared with me. Thank you.

My father died a couple of months after I started. The number of sympathy cards I received from nursing faculty who did not know me was overwhelming. Again, I thank you. I appreciate this college's integrity to practice the care that it preaches. The recent Lamp of Learning Ceremony challenged future nurses to practice the highest ideals of technical excellence and compassionate patient care.

I am grateful to faculty, staff, alumni and members of the community at large who make annual contributions that benefit our college. If you haven't been part of that tradition, today is a great time to start! Every gift counts. What a great display of appreciation for care received from a nurse, for those who taught you well, for one's daily work colleagues, or as a remembrance of friendships forged through clinic and classroom. Such giving also demonstrates care for future Pirate Nurses.

With the new online giving system, you can set up recurring payments or a one-time payment to whichever fund (General Annual Funds or Specific Established Endowments) you wish. If you're unsure, it takes me two minutes to walk you through it in a phone call, 252-744-2324 or maxwellg17@ecu.edu.

Reflection also brings these recent experiences to mind. During my first week, a visitor recalled how her daughter received a nursing scholarship many years ago. The mother explained she was not able financially to fully support her daughter's only dream. This mother was happy to contribute to a CON Scholarship herself, still grateful all these years later that others had given previously, making her daughter's scholarships possible. It is a touching story. Your gifts put YOU on the receiving end of that gratitude.

Likewise, I was touched by the alumna who told me how even with scholarships she almost didn't make it. She had needed money from her mother, her grandmother and her fiancé to make ends meet, even with the scholarships. Annual gifts to CON scholarships is a mandate this couple continues to share.

Recently I learned from a Florida alumna why she divides her annual gift ($300) between two different previously established endowment funds: one is in memory of a former classmate and the other goes to the scholarship she had received herself. She wanted to pay it forward. Your gift to CON generates gratitude each year!

Folks are surprised to learn how easy it is to establish an endowment (a permanent fund whose interest can only be spent by criteria you set). When done through a planned gift, it costs nothing during your lifetime. Documenting your will for advancement purposes only requires a copy of the couple of sentences in your will that make the provision to CON, not a copy of your will. Whether such is a dollar amount or a percentage, anyone can establish future gifts through a simple will. Documenting this also ensures that whenever the money does arrive, it is used specifically as you wanted.

Please contact me with general inquiries or specific questions you have regarding the variety of ways to give back to ECU's College of Nursing, including various vehicles that can reduce your taxes.

All of us are grateful for your consideration as you reflect this fall!

-G. Elizabeth Maxwell
Director of Development, College of Nursing