Year in Fundraising
This past year’s fundraising was a success on several levels. Thank you to our alumni, parents and friends! Your generosity allows life experiences, like the ones you read about in this newsletter, and experiences similar to what our alumni enjoyed possible! Learn more about how our donations shaped the teams' experience...
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With the funds raised last year, the men were able to purchase a new Empacher racing shell, which made its debut on the race course at the IRA National Championships. Also, on top of that, they used the funds for their annual training trip to the Oregon Coast at the spot many alums know quite well: Eel Lake. The rain was persistent but the training was an excellent start to our 2023-24 campaign. This 5K lake is ideal for rowing and showcases all that Oregon has to offer: rolling hills of timber and especially “The Dunes”.
This past year the women decided to venture south for a winter break training camp and it paid off tremendously. The team benefited greatly from a full week of training in small boats, on still water, in a warmer climate. They were able to run a pairs matrix over 1500m on still water which revealed unsuspected boat movers who were flying under the radar up until that point….two athletes who started as walk-on just the year before showed their natural ability for boat feel and their time in the pairs was a spring board for their paths to the V8 by spring racing season. Off the water, they defined values as a team and refined goals for the spring racing season. It set a really positive, tone heading into winter conditioning back in Corvallis. Thank you so much for your donations, this trip would not have been possible without your support! Also, huge shout out to Chris Callaghan an OSU alum/current director of San Diego Rowing Club for allowing us to use their space, launches, and several shells that entire week!
AUCTION: This year we tried a new approach with a “Paddle Raise” combined with just a few auction items. We were thrilled with the results, raising the most ever: $40,000! (Almost double our average over the past 5 years!) Thank you to all of you donors who helped make this possible!
DAM PROUD DAY:
The Men’s Rowing and Women’s Rowing Teams won the top two spots for the amount of funds raised by teams in the Athletic Department! Yay Team! In addition to the funds you contributed, and because so many of you helped out, the Women’s team got an additional $20,000 for having the most donors at 998, and the men won an extra $15,000 for having the most alumni donors in the university. Your support at this event helps us both financially and politically. We can’t thank you all enough for making rowing shine above the rest!
Thank you to our donors who helped make this possible! Check out the 2023 Honor Roll here.
PLANNED GIVING: We secured three additional planned gifts this year, adding to our previous total of 7! See the article on Planned Giving later in this newsletter if you would like to join others in helping secure rowing’s future.