Employees Donate Nearly $645,000 to Neighborhood Campaign

Jonathan Abels kicked off the annual Duke employee giving campaign in the Sanford School of Public Policy with one goal in mind: Increase the number of staff and faculty who donate.

Abels and his team of Duke Doing Good in the Neighborhood contributors met with colleagues and shared how the campaign financially supports schools and nonprofits in Durham and the Triangle. The team crafted weekly emails and personal messages and held drawings for gift certificates for employees who made a donation.

During the campaign from Oct. 19 to Dec. 4, 61 Sanford employees contributed to Doing Good in the Neighborhood compared to 22 in 2014.

“Durham is my home and has been for more than 20 years,” said Abels, executive director of the Duke Center for International Development. “It’s an opportunity to give back to this community who has been very good to me, and there are great needs in this community.”

The Sanford contributions are part of a total of $644,233 raised by 1,436 Duke staff and faculty during the campaign, according to the Duke Office of Durham and Regional Affairs, which runs the campaign.

During Doing Good in the Neighborhood, employees choose to donate to six different giving categories: Schools, Health, Neighborhoods, Youth Empowerment, the United Way of the Greater Triangle, and the Community Care Fund, which supports competitive grants for Triangle nonprofits.

Even though the campaign has ended, employees can still make a donation year-round on the Duke@Work self-service website via one-time or ongoing payroll deduction, or through the Duke Community Giving website.

“We really support programming and nonprofits that operate year-round,” said Jenny Morgan, senior program coordinator for communications in the Office of Durham and Regional Affairs. “Duke’s ongoing efforts make our community stronger and healthier, from funding learning initiatives in local schools to helping families access housing.”