Day of Giving 2021 Recap

Zeta Tau Alpha’s 123rd Founders’ Day took us on a road trip we won’t soon forget.

The second annual Day of Giving started in the footsteps of our Founders in Farmville, Virginia and took us across the country to explore sites of our sisterhood. We concluded in Carmel, Indiana at our beautiful International Office where we celebrated our amazing sisterhood.

The generosity of our sisters and friends who donated to the ZTA Foundation was overwhelming. We couldn’t be more excited that 235 donors gave for the first time and took this trip with us! We are also grateful to have received 1,589 donations, totaling an incredible and unexpected $271,691.71.

Every contribution to the ZTA Foundation, no matter what size, fuels our sisterhood and makes an important impact on women’s lives. ZTA’s scholarships, educational programming, leadership training and philanthropy efforts are significant in the lives of our members, and our donors make them possible.

This year’s campaign featured some very exciting goals, made possible by our Challenge Donors. As our sisterhood completed each challenge, we unlocked very generous donations and a few fun surprises!

Thank you very much to this year’s Challenge Donors. Please read more about their special gifts below.

No Matter Where Your Journey Began

The Presidents of our three entities got our Day of Giving show on the road with a combined donation of $3,750. They are living proof that no matter where your journey began, all roads lead you home to ZTA.

• National President Alicia Patten Williams (Theta Psi, Texas State University)

• ZTA Foundation President Carolyn Hof Carpenter (Theta Tau, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

• ZTA Fraternity Housing Corporation President Dinah Jackson Laughery (Beta Gamma, Florida State University)

Destination Challenges

All Roads Lead to ZTA and this road trip virtually took us to nine special destinations. We unlocked a new destination with each 100 donations and every destination we reached unlocked an additional $1,250 gift from a generous donor.

Each location featured a short video about its ties to ZTA once it was unlocked. Check out our Facebook album to watch each video!

When we met the goal of 100 donations for each location, totaling 900 donations, we unlocked an additional $6,500 gift from Jenni Zottola Leger (Zeta Sigma, The University of Texas at Arlington). Thank you, Jenni!

Thank you to the following Zetas for being Challenge Donors for each of our nine destinations.

• Keeley McDonald (Iota Sigma, Old Dominion University)

• Alice McCann Mathews (Eta Iota, Valdosta State University)

• Kimberly Jones Ivester (Gamma Pi, The University of Georgia)

• Cynthia Byars Courtney (Gamma Tau, Texas Tech University)

• Marnie Marlar Frazier (Eta Omega, University of Louisiana in Shreveport)

• Heather Matthews Kirk (Delta Kappa, Louisiana State University)

• Carla Martin Cobb (Theta Tau, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

• Jill Burrows Levine (Beta Omega, Union University)

• Anonymous Donor

All 50 States Challenge

When we received a donation from every state (yes, all 50!), we unlocked yet another generous gift—an additional $5,000 gift from Shamim Syed Wu (Theta Omega, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona)!

Thank you to Shamim for her generosity, and to donors in Canada and Germany for making our Day of Giving an international affair!

First-Time Donor Challenges

This Day of Giving focused on donors, not dollars, so it was the perfect day for someone who had never given to the ZTA Foundation to become a donor. A big thank you to the following Challenge Donors for sponsoring these important goals!

• 100 first-time donors: Malaea Nelms Seleski (Eta Rho, University of North Alabama); $1,898

• 150 first-time donors, Kelley E. Moulton (Eta Lambda, College of Charleston); $5,000

(Horse)Power Hours

We revved our engines four times throughout the Day of Giving with an ambitious goal to reach 100 donations in only one hour each time. Our incredible sisters showed up and met all four goals, and we were rewarded with generous donations from the following Challenge Donors whom we’d like to thank:

• (Horse)Power Hour 1: Laura Moak Redman (Delta Lambda, Georgia State University); $1,250

• (Horse)Power Hour 2: Anonymous Donor; $1,250

• (Horse)Power Hour 3: Dr. Darcy L. Russell (Sigma, Baker University); $1,500

• (Horse)Power Hour 4: Dr. Rachelle J. Douglass (Alpha Psi, University of Missouri); $2,000

Mile Marker Challenges

As our destination challenges came to an end, we routed toward the mile marker challenges. When we hit each milestone below, we unlocked gifts from five generous sisters:

• Mile Marker 1 (1,000 total donations): Anonymous Donor; $2,500

• Mile Marker 2 (1,150 total donations): Sara Hays Johnston (Alpha Upsilon, Oklahoma State University); $3,000

• Mile Marker 3 (1,250 total donations): Kay Dill Kreutzer (Eta Rho, The University of North Alabama): $3,500

• Mile Marker 4 (1,350 total donations): Debbie Buscher (Zeta Mu, Jacksonville University); $4,000

• Mile Marker 5 (1,500 total donations): Jennifer Speidel Baker (Eta Theta, Missouri University of Science & Technology); $5,000

Sisterhood Stops

These generous sisters gave donations that helped fuel us for all of the challenge goals throughout the day. Thank you to the following Zetas for their support:

• Laura Ladewig Landers (Theta Psi, Texas State University); $1,500

• Bridget Higginbotham (Eta Omega, Louisiana State University in Shreveport); $1,898

• Michelle Macartney (Delta Delta, Baldwin Wallace University); $2,500

• V. Jan Middlebrooks (Beta Omicron, University of South Carolina); $2,500

• Dr. Kelly Smith (Gamma Pi, The University of Georgia); $5,000

• Bonney Stamper Shuman (Gamma Pi, The University of Georgia); $5,000

A Special Gift from Tanya Snyder

While the saying goes, "it's not about the destination, it's about the journey," we couldn't help but look forward to our final stop on Oct. 15. Once we achieved every challenge listed, we were rewarded in a big way. Tanya Snyder (Iota Omega, University of Maryland) very generously supported Day of Giving with a $15,000 gift when we completed all of the challenges from the day!