Meet Your Development Team In 2002 the Sigma Nu Foundation instituted a new development initiative to reach out to successful young graduates for Foundation support. The GOLD Program, which stands for Graduates of the Last Decade, has generated tremendous interest in the Fraternity's educational and charitable programs among this generation. James Owens (Charleston), Executive Vice President of the Foundation, began this program with two Directors of

Dan Jenkins, Josh Nay, Erik Tomalis and James Owens

Development who traveled to different regions of the country for in-person meetings with members who are recent graduates. He comments on the success of this strategy, "The GOLD Program has become one of our primary vehicles for providing financial support to the Fraternity. We have already surpassed our initial goal with 578 young alumni pledging over $964,000. In the next 4-5 years, this program should grow to a level where we can provide annual grants of $500,000 to the Fraternity."

In 2004, the two original staff members left and two new Directors of Development came to work for the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation. Josh Nay (Gettysburg) lives in Blacksburg, VA and primarily travels the East Coast, and Erik Tomalis (Duquesne) lives in Cleveland, OH and primarily travels the Central U.S. "We have been so pleased with their performance and the outcomes of the GOLD program," says Owens, "that we decided to hire a third Director of Development." Dan Jenkins (Drury), will come on board this month. He will be based in the Los Angeles, CA area and will travel the West Coast region.

Foundation contributions play an important role in the Fraternity's educational and charitable programs because these grants help underwrite portions of the LEAD Program, College of Chapters, the Helping Hand Initiative, consultant visits, etc., all of which serve to shape the future of our Fraternity and its members. One of the unique aspects of the GOLD Program is that the majority of these donors are pledging their support over a 5-year period of time. These long-term pledges allow the Foundation to project future grants to the Fraternity. Likewise, the Fraternity can plan strategically for future programs or initiatives with the assurance that funding will be available when they need it.

For more information about the GOLD program, please contact James Owens.