May 23, 2022

FEATURED STORIES

‘Something I will never forget’

Students leave lasting impact on local community

SUMMARY:
In April, Gaby Hirsch (’22) and Kelly Shearer (’22) developed a peer-to-peer
fundraising method for the Community Counseling Center on the day of the Great
Community Give.

By Kristen Essex

The future of the Community Counseling Center is brighter thanks to two

Communication Studies
students with big hearts for their community.
Gaby Hirsch (’22) and Kelly Shearer (’22) partnered with the CCC for their senior
capstone class, “Advanced Studies in Organizational Communication,” to
implement a peer-to-peer strategy for fundraising efforts.

In the peer-to-peer method, individuals collect donations from a network of

donors. Hirsch and Shearer collected donations for the Great Community Give, a
community-wide giving day on April 20 for local nonprofit organizations.
 

The students were given complete creative freedom from their SCOM professor,
Jennifer PeeksMease
, and the Community Counseling Center to strategize the best method for raising
awareness and funds.

The CCC’s mission is to provide affordable counseling services for everyone in

the Harrisonburg community. “This organization does such admirable work, and
with access to increased resources, even more community members will benefit,”
Hirsch said.

The Community Counseling Center won the

iHeartMedia Inc. Board Member prize.

The CCC didn’t have previous experience with peer-to-peer fundraising, but
Hirsch and Shearer motivated the group of fundraisers — comprised of mostly
counselors and CCC board members — by showing them the difference they
could make. They trained them on how to communicate and ask for donations
using materials they provided.
“I believe the CCC realizes how repeatable the process is, so it can enjoy similar
success year after year,” Hirsch said.

The CCC reached its goal before the event day, breaking previous donation
records. In 2021, it received less than $3,000 in donations; this year it raised
$20,658. The first $10,000 was collected before the event even took place. “After
helping them raise about $10K through peer-to-peer alone, they were excited and
recognized the large impact that peer-to-peer fundraisers have,” Shearer said.

“I'm so glad that we were able to train and

create materials for our fundraisers, making
fundraising as effortless as possible,” said
Gaby Hirsch (’22).

“Putting in place a program that increased donations from less than $3,000 to
over $20,000 is what I now consider to be my greatest contribution to the
Harrisonburg community,” Hirsch said.

The number of CCC donors increased from 26 last year to 102 this year,
providing funding for interpreters, parent-child visitation supervision and family-
counseling sessions.
 

The CCC considered Hirsch and Shearer leaders in the organization and created
a meaningful partnership with them. The organization will continue peer-to-peer
fundraising for years to come and is thankful for the students’ efforts.

“Nonprofits help to make a community come together and help each other out. I
encourage everyone to walk downtown and check out these nonprofits, because
 there are great volunteer opportunities and fun events that are thrown throughout
the year that build the Harrisonburg community,” Shearer said.

“I already know my partnership with the CCC is something I will never forget,
mainly because the personal reward of seeing my work translate into program-
changing numbers and real success for the CCC is a true sense of personal
pride,” Hirsch said.

James Madison University

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Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807

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Published: Monday, May 23, 2022

Last Updated: Wednesday, December 7, 2022

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