Penn's Way campaign falls short of goal

For the second time in three years, Penn's Way did not meet its goal. When kicking off the charity campaign in late October, Penn's Way coordinators said they hoped to raise $400,000. According to Comptroller Barbara Murray, the campaign only produced a total of $390,800. But coordinators of the project say they are still pleased with the results, noting an increase over last year's $370,000 total. Last year, they did not set a goal for themselves. "It is slightly short of the goal but it is well ahead of last year," Co-Coordinator Steven Murray said. Steven Murray, the University's vice president for business services, said the campaign differed from past years, with more personal contact between the facilitators and coordinators. "We purposely did a relatively low-key campaign this year," he said. "We made the campaign a little more personal and less mass media [oriented] and that proved to be successful." Co-Coordinator Helen Davies said the campaign attempted to lessen the pressure placed on employees to donate. "Things are not great financially for many people," said Davies, who is also the associate dean of student affairs for the Medical School. "We think it's?friendlier?to not run a pressured program." And despite Penn's Way's failure to meet its goal, coordinators said they thought the lack of pressure worked successfully. "It's a real testament to the people at Penn that that much money was able to be raised for worthwhile causes," Steven Murray said. Sixteen umbrella organizations will receive the money raised during this year's Penn's Way -- although it has not yet been determined how much money will be given to each group.

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