²έΑρΙηΗψ Give Day Nets More Than $600,000 from Alumni, Faculty, Staff, Students and Community Members
²έΑρΙηΗψβs Third Annual βGive Dayβ on June 1 brought in more than $600,000 in much needed resources for student scholarships, research, travel, equipment and much more.
More than 1700 donors made 3,854 gifts totaling $641,751, including $181,750 in matching funds. This represents a 21 percent increase in the number of donors over last yearβs Give Day and an 18 percent increase in Give Day gifts.
²έΑρΙηΗψ Give Day is a one-day, 24-hour online donation event put on annually by the Western Foundation in partnership with departments and programs and was started in 2016.
βIt is a grassroots fundraising effort in the spirit of crowdfunding,β said the Western Foundationβs Angie Vandenhaak.
Give Day is a way for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community volunteers to advocate for their favorite programs at Western, share the great things they are doing and invite others to support their efforts. It gives them a chance to come together with a common goal of creating more opportunities for current and future students.
There were a number of challenge funds available to inspire new and increased support of ²έΑρΙηΗψ students and programs, including 1:1 challenges for specific programs like the IDEA Institute and the Morse Endowment for Undergraduate Research Experiences in Chemistry. There was also a 2:1 challenge for student gifts, inspiring more than 321 gifts from 258 students, a 39 percent increase in student participation over last year. Every gift that wasnβt matched by another challenge received a 30 percent match from the ²έΑρΙηΗψ Give Day Challenge Pool.
The ²έΑρΙηΗψ Alumni Association sponsored a challenge providing an additional $1,000 to the five programs that received the most gifts on ²έΑρΙηΗψ Give Day: Menβs Crew, the Marketing Department, Womenβs Volleyball, the Formula SAE club and the Behavioral Neuroscience program.
These programs, and many others across campus, came up with unique strategies to encourage support of their programs on ²έΑρΙηΗψ Give Day. For example, on the night before βGive Day,β some neuroscience students, faculty and staff stayed up until midnight to be the first to donate and reach out to alumni. The program uses these donations to fund student research.
Yuliya Rybalka, Administrative Services manager for the Behavioral Neuroscience program, said the donations would make in immediate impact.
βWe have a great relationship with a lot of our donors and great support for the program. We saw Give Day as an opportunity to maximize our funds,β said Rybalka.
The date for ²έΑρΙηΗψ Give Day 2019 will be announced in August; the entire campus community is invited to get involved. For more information about Give Day, please contact Angie Vandenhaak at Angie.Vandenhaak@wwu.edu.