The Impact on Impact

An inside look at the Foundation’s journey to contribute to the world’s work despite a global pandemic.

By Erin White

It's evident that 2020 will be heralded as one of the most challenging years in Alpha Gamma Delta’s 116-year history.COVID-19 turned university campuses upside down and tossed lives into turmoil. The global pandemic illuminated simplicities we took for granted and threw them to the wind. Here’s how the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation responded, in real time, and how it’s impacting our future.

WHAT WE HEARD

At the Academy for Collegiate Officers in February, we heard initial rumblings of something called corona virus. As nearly 600 collegiate members, volunteers and staff spent the weekend together, we had no idea the first U.S. case had already been diagnosed—or how much our lives would soon change.

Whispers began to swirl at International Headquarters on March 9 that COVID-19 was worsening at a rate with which healthcare professionals could no longer keep pace. At an all-staff meeting March 13, it was announced that all IHQ staff would be remote until April.

As "temporary" measures were implemented, we had no idea the impact the pandemic would have on the lives of our sisters and their families—or the Foundation itself. We had so many questions and absolutely no answers. “Planning ahead” became “from one day to the next.” How can you care for sisters if you don’t know what’s coming?

“We knew there would be greater need for SIS Grants,” said Foundation Executive Director Julie Waitman, Beta Beta–North Dakota State University. “What we didn’t yet know was how long and how deeply the economy would be impacted—how much it would affect the need for scholarships, or how food insecurity would reach all-time emergency levels in our local communities.”

As giving slowed and needs began to increase, questions loomed. How long will this last? Will we have enough funds to help people in their darkest hours?

WHAT WE KNEW

While IHQ’s Fraternity Services Team already had several procedures in place to address emergency issues, the amount of womanpower it took to handle the onslaught of collegiate chapter needs neared capacity. Likewise, the Fraternity Housing Corporation and local house associations had to manage ever-evolving risks related to communal living. Then, as campuses across the U.S. and Canada began to close in March, the FHC had to employ a rapid move-out plan for thousands of our collegiate sisters.

As more than 40 percent of the Foundation’s mission is typically funded by contributions from collegiate and alumnae group philanthropic events, campus closures made it evident that our annual fundraising goals would not be reached. And, with Alpha Gam’s annual Day of Giving—our largest individual fundraising activity—just around the corner, we had to second-guess a year’s worth of planning and make a very difficult decision on if and how to move forward with the event.

A DAY OF CARING

“To be honest, I was nervous when Julie first came to me about proceeding with the Day of Giving this year. As our members were in the throes of dealing with a wide range of economic and emotional issues surrounding the pandemic, I worried it would seem insensitive,” said Fraternity Executive Director Katie Jolley Abernathy, Delta Theta– University of Idaho. “Then Julie explained that sisters were telling us they wanted to help, and it could be a Day of Caring—something to bring us together in this time of uncertainty. I was fully on board.”

With the decision to move forward with a revised plan came a mad dash of logistical changes. The graphics, website, messaging, emails— everything planned for the last 11 months had to be revised from top to bottom. And there were only 48 hours to make it happen.

“Instead of simply encouraging members to care about the Foundation’s mission—and meeting the financial goals to make it happen—it was important we made the focus of the day about caring for one another,” said Julie.

The Commitment to Care was implemented as a way for members to commit to acts of kindness, such as calling five sisters or volunteering for a local cause. This gave all members the chance to participate in the day, even if they weren’t in the position to make a monetary gift.

A decision was also made to call attention to two of the Foundation’s greatest areas of focus and need—fighting hunger and sisters in need (SIS) grants.

“Food. Shelter. Medical needs. It doesn’t get any more basic than this. As the world ground to a halt, businesses closed. Jobs were lost which meant healthcare was gone. There is no greater call to action than to support the sisters we love and the communities where we live with our most basic needs,” said Julie.

It took long hours from Foundation board and staff, collaboration with IHQ staff members and countless phone calls, presentations and pitches, but Day of Caring was a success.

The shift from solely giving financial gifts to pausing to care about each other made the day even more impactful. We reached our revised monetary goal of $100,000, and—just as importantly—more than 100 members held kindness invaluable and signed the Commitment to Care.

THE IMPACT

SIS GRANTS: For nearly 40 years the Foundation has provided confidential, financial SIS Grants to members facing life-altering hardship. These grants can bridge the gap when members have exhausted all other resources and can no longer afford food, shelter or medical expenses.

Due to the pandemic and natural disasters across North America, we’ve seen a 28 percent increase in approved SIS Grant applications. The $88,700 awarded in 2019-2020 was almost double from the previous year. In fact, the fund was depleted three times as pandemic-related applications began to pour in. The need for help grew so rapidly, the Foundation Board of Trustees approved a revised application and timeline to remove barriers and help as many sisters as possible. With emergency

needs still on the rise, we expect the need to continue for the unforeseeable future.

FIGHTING HUNGER: As the pandemic continues, basic needs of food must be met. Rates of food insecurity are substantially higher for single female heads of households with children. With donor help, the Foundation will award its one millionth dollar in fighting hunger support this fiscal year to organizations on the most local levels.

SCHOLARSHIPS: Our 150 scholarship recipients alone carry student debt totaling more than $2.6 million. The uncertainty and challenges brought by COVID-19 has never been higher for our members as they continue their educational journeys. In 2019–2020 the Foundation turned away 239 scholarship applicants due to lack of funding. The loss of jobs, internships and student teaching adds additional strain, not only to their educational journey, but the potential for added time in school with its additional cost. The need for scholarships will only rise.

ANNUAL FUND: The Annual Fund provides a wide variance of impact and is an absolute necessity to our organization. This fund ensures the most urgent and desperate needs are met. Unrestricted gifts made to the Annual Fund provide the Foundation flexibility to immediately disseminate funds to needs as they arise. It bridges the gap between the programs and support made possible from membership dues and the realities of sky-rocketing educational and leadership costs. This includes a commitment to fund the Fraternity’s immediate need for a new learning management system to adapt to a virtual learning environment for professional and personal growth —including mental health resources.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

It’s hard to say exactly where we go from here. At some point offices will fully reopen, restaurants will return to full capacity, but we won’t truly be back to where we were at the beginning of 2020.

If there is one clear takeaway that we can collectively grasp it is that while nothing is guaranteed, sisterhood prevails. Plans may change, completely fall apart or be rebuilt into something better than we could have imagined. Either way, our resiliency is not something to be taken lightly. We are working hand in hand with our strategic mission and re-evaluating daily how to best serve our sisters, but one thing is constant: Alpha Gams are unwavering, and nothing can stop us.

With two percent of our alumnae as donors, the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation awarded nearly $1 million in scholarships and grants last fiscal year. Imagine what we could accomplish with 3 percent.

Visit alphagammadeltafoundation.org/donate to learn more about how you can help us transform lives, empower women, support one another and impact the world!