In honor of #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay on March 7, donors made 4,299 gifts for more than $1,075,025 to achieve the most successful #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay celebration to date.
Engagement on social media also hit a peak, with #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay becoming a national trending topic during a 24-hour celebration that called for the university community to proudly proclaim, “We are Â鶹ÊÓƵ!” Alumni giving was a key factor in the day’s success, with 62 percent of gifts coming from Â鶹ÊÓƵ graduates, while gifts of $50 and under accounted for 69 percent of Â鶹ÊÓƵ Day contributions.
“Â鶹ÊÓƵ Day is a time for our entire university community to come together as one,” said John H. Barnhill ’92, assistant vice president for university advancement. “’We are Â鶹ÊÓƵ’ is more than just a theme — it is the embodiment of Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s spirit that lives inside each of our partners, advocates and investors. Our continued success is the perfect example of what can happen when we come together to make a difference.”
The day started with a $50,000 scholarship challenge sponsored by Jon and Nina Graves, parents of Megan Graves ’18, that called for #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay donors to reach 1,000 gifts before the university’s College Coffee at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. At College Coffee, the university announced that the family of an Â鶹ÊÓƵ junior, which chose to remain anonymous, would create a $250,000 student scholarship if the number of gifts hit 2,000 by 2:50 p.m. The response to the midday challenge prompted the family to launch an additional challenge in which they would create a second $250,000 scholarship if the Â鶹ÊÓƵ community made 4,250 gifts by midnight. Donors successfully completed every challenge of the day, securing each of the three student scholarships.
In addition to the morning College Coffee, on-campus events also included a Senior Toast for the Class of 2017 and an #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay All-Student Party later in the evening. Â鶹ÊÓƵ Law also hosted #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay events on the Greensboro campus.
Hundreds of alumni participated in #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay events hosted by the university’s regional alumni chapters. The events took place in 38 cities spanning the globe from London to Los Angeles.
The following donors generously sponsored #Â鶹ÊÓƵDay giving challenges and matches:
-Â鶹ÊÓƵ Young Alumni Council
–Jonathan and Nina Graves P’18
–Clayton and Beverly Hollis P’13
–Â鶹ÊÓƵ Trustee Christopher Martin ’78 P’13 and Nicholas Martin ’13
–Stephen and Susan Paneyko P’20
Learn more about this year’s historic day of giving at elon.edu/elonday.