Best of CASE District III Award
 

Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University

Title of entry: Honoring an Endowed Chair's Namesake, and Donors who Provided Support

About this entry: In spring of 2022 it was time to announce the completed fundraising effort for the Kenneth A. Ellenbogen Chair in Cardiology at VCU School of Medicine. Dr. Ellenbogen truly is a world-renowned pioneer in the field of electrocardiology, so honoring him, thanking the chair's major donors, and inspiring further giving was necessary to meet the gravity of the moment. A video, article and images were produced to accomplish all of the above goals. First, the video was shown at a dinner for major donors and leaders of the VCU Health Pauley Heart Center. Next, the video and article were posted on the MCV Foundation website and social media channels. Finally, the article and images were published in the MCV Foundation's Chronicle of Giving Magazine. In addition to the quality of these materials appropriately honoring such an influential person in the field, social media response -- especially comments from former patients and colleagues -- was incredible; the website article/video received more than 4,000 views with an astonishing 6:26 average time per visitor on the page; the magazine put the story in the hands of 51,000 alumni and donors; and $106,555 in additional funding support came in after the story's website publication to increase the total to $2,454,529 million.