College Benefactor Honored as Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser
December, 2008
David Banks
Photo by Brian Meredith
(courtesy CitiScapes Magazine)
For Penny Splichal, David Banks' generosity made a significant difference in her life. The student in the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing won the David R. Banks Endowed Scholarship in Nursing two times.
"Every student's finances are a stressful issue," Splichal explained. "With nursing, even though some of us have jobs as well, we can't put in a lot of hours because of our clinical requirements. Receiving a scholarship such as this is truly a blessing. It allows us to focus on our studies to become the best possible nurses."
Splichal will graduate in May and already has a job lined up as a nurse at a Mayo Clinic hospital in Rochester, Minn. She will start work on a general patient floor and ultimately will work in the intensive care unit.
David Banks of Fayetteville was honored as the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser at the 7th Annual Northwest Arkansas National Philanthropy Day Luncheon on Nov. 19.
According to the Northwest Arkansas chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, this award is presented to individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership in fundraising, devote significant time and effort to charitable causes and show a deep commitment to the advancement of philanthropy.
The College of Education and Health Professions also salutes Banks and is proud to share information below that details his contributions to the region.
From nomination materials submitted to the Association of Fundraising Professionals:
We are fortunate to live in a region that finds prominent examples of philanthropy at every turn. Arkansans are generous people. But there is a distinction between gifts of loyalty and gifts of passion. David Banks is one of the residents of northwest Arkansas who best exemplifies successful philanthropic opportunity that fulfills his interests and that of others. David is passionate about the causes he supports and gives tirelessly of time, energy and resources.
The manner in which David has offered service to a wide variety of needs is rooted in one constant variable. When he commits to service, he succeeds in what he sets out to accomplish. The causes he supports spread far and across the entire region from Harrison to Fayetteville to Fort Smith. His generosity knows no geographic boundaries. For example, when the historic Lyric theater in Harrison was scheduled for demolition, David offered to provide the lead gift of $75,000 to cover half of the renovation costs necessary to repair and maintain the longstanding fixture in downtown. His gift inspired others in the community to give of themselves in both dollars and sweat, raising an additional $75,000 in money needed to restore the building to its original form. His generosity was contagious.
When David served as the chairman of the College of Education and Health Professions Campaign for the Twenty-First Century committee, the college exceeded its goal of $15 million and raised more than $40 million. David made two significant gifts that resulted in endowed scholarships for the college, but more importantly, he reached out to his committee members and professional contacts to ask of them what he had asked of himself. His plea to provide assistance for preparing future educators and health professionals was heard far and wide. His enthusiasm for the cause was contagious.
David also has a longstanding commitment to scholarship and health-related issues all across northwest Arkansas. While at Beverly Enterprises, David quietly and unassumingly personally began a scholarship program for minority students graduating from Fort Smith high schools and attending a public higher education institution of their choice. The program was adopted companywide and still works to benefit those worthy students every year. His former home in Fort Smith was host to several events including the Donald W. Reynolds Cancer Support House Wine and Rose dinner, the Fort Smith United Way, and the campaign to raise money to buy art for the lobby of the newly constructed Fort Smith Convention Center. His commitment to these boutique campaigns was contagious.
David most recently made a commitment to the newly constructed women's softball field at the University of Arkansas. He has given tireless energy to assist Bev Lewis, associate vice chancellor for athletics, in identifying and cultivating additional support for the project. David's gift was one that showed others in the area that supporting a student athlete facility was a means to benefitting a well-rounded collegiate experience that extends far beyond the playing field. David's sense of teamwork was contagious.
David Banks has made monumental contributions to the betterment of all of northwest Arkansas. He is a team player, he is a leader, he is source of inspiration to fellow benefactors. His efforts have made a difference is so many lives and he is most assuredly worthy of the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
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