Greg Wight, United Way of St. Catharines and District campaign chair, and CEO and president of Algoma Central corporation, and Diana Panter, Brock's United Way campaign co-chair, draw the winner of a trip aboard a laker on the Welland Canal. Sandra Boone in Recreation Services won the trip for donating to the campaign using payroll deduction.

Brock’s United Way campaign has set a new record and surpassed its fundraising goal.

With $145,032 raised by the time of Tuesday’s campaign wrap-up celebration, donors left the initial goal of $123,000 in the dust. And that left campaign co-chair Diana Panter “thrilled.”

Both she and her fellow campaign chair, Curtis Gadula, were crediting this year’s success to upping their communication efforts with faculty and staff, reminding them to donate through payroll deduction and to participate in money-raising events, including a trivia night and Halloween fun run.

Then there was the tactic of revealing which faculties are the most generous – a title that Graduate Studies handedly earned with a participation rate of 23 per cent while Business lagged in last place with only 11 per cent chipping in.

Rebranding the campaign and having Algoma Central Corporation donate a trip on the Welland Canal aboard one of its lakers for a donor to win also helped the cause, Panter noted.

Combined, all efforts helped raise overall participation to 20 per cent, up from 17 per cent last year.

While it was far from the goal of 50 per cent participation, Panter and Gadula have plans for a similar campaign next year.

“Perhaps we’ll change an event or add another event to keep people interested,” Gadula said.

Brock’s campaign total pushes the United Way of St. Catharines and District closer to its $3.205 million-goal.

Frances Hallworth, the charity’s executive director, praised Brock’s approach to enticing people to donate.

“They do a wonderful job here and I think part of the success is using a committee structure, which makes it easier to reach the different departments,” Hallworth said.

Brock is among the top 10 of 210 corporate or organizational campaigns that contribute to the local fundraising drive.