Today, August 17, is National Nonprofit Day! Help us celebrate by making a donation to the Ridgewater College Foundation. A gift, great or small, can Create Opportunities and Change Lives of Ridgewater College students.

A full year of tuition and fee expenses at Ridgewater College with a credit load of 15 credits per semester will be roughly $6,108.60. With the start of fall semester being next week, August 21, our goal this National Nonprofit Day is to raise $5,000 for our Ridgewater Cares Initiatives so we can help last minute students:

The Ridgewater Cares Student Emergency Fund - assists students in urgent financial situations who might otherwise miss class or drop out completely.
Last minute scholarships - these can be offered to help students who would have had to put their education on hold because they simply couldn’t afford it.
Small grants to faculty & staff for special projects and initiatives that improve student experiences.
Creating additional scholarship awards - we still turn away over half of our applicants due to insufficient funding. Your donations to Ridgewater Cares (Areas of Greatest Need) or General Scholarships help fill this gap and allow us to create more awards in the areas that need it most so more students can be reached and recognized.

Your donation means reaching more students, awarding more scholarships, and providing emergency resources in times of need.

On National Nonprofit Day, we recognize our mission: To expand educational opportunities and enhance academic excellence at Ridgewater College by providing financial and community support.

So far, we have been Creating Opportunities and Changing lives by:

Raising funds for scholarships, special initiatives, academic enhancements (including program equipment and technology), and leadership/professional development;
Cultivating regional partnerships with business/industry;
Being an ambassador and advocate for the college and its students;
Collaborating with college leadership to enhance access for students and to develop quality programming for teaching and learning;
Raising funds to support quality of life experiences for students in music, athletics, theatre, clubs, and organizations; and
Building an endowment to support future generations. Our endowment is currently valued at 2.5 million.

There are so many ways to give back today. We appreciate the good you are doing in the world this National Nonprofit Day. Your impact on the Ridgewater College communities does not go unnoticed. A gift of any size is an investment in the future of our students and our communities.

Thank you!