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Challenge gifts inspire giving

Alice and Gordon Kayser

Thanks to the foresight of two couples from Oregon, the Annual Fund received a substantial boost last year. Dale ('63) and Jolita (Hylland '63) Benson, and friends of PLU Gordon and Alice Kayser, each made $10,000 challenge gifts to the university. The "challenge" was to match dollar-for-dollar any new Annual Gift funds to the university between April 1 and May 30, 2001. The Bensons especially wanted to spur giving among their fellow Lute Oregonians, directing their challenge to donors from the Beaver State.The dual challenge resulted in $37,000 in new Annual Fund gifts over the two-month period.

Through the generosity of the Kaysers and the Bensons, many alumni and friends of Pacific Lutheran University were inspired to contribute.

"It was sort of a natural thing to do. PLU has always meant a lot to us, " Dale said. "This gift was an incentive for others to give."