Emmanuel supporters more than doubled the College’s donation goal as part of its inaugural Giving Day on September 19th.
Held in honor of the official 100th anniversary of the first day of classes, the 24-hour online giving initiative asked all members of the greater Emmanuel family to make a gift in support of the College. In total, roughly $223,000 was raised by more than 660 donors to help lead Emmanuel into its second century.
In addition to general donations in support of the College, donors were incentivized to advocate in support of Giving Day on social media, as well as “challenge” others to support the cause. Gifts could also be designated in support of specific areas of interest, including the Campaign for the Second Century, Emmanuel Fund, scholarships, academic departments and research, and athletics. Emmanuel athletic teams were one of the highest designated areas, raising more than $47,000 combined, thanks to the extensive efforts of players and coaches.
“Giving Day was a wonderful success that energized departments around campus to fundraise for their own initiatives and to make the College community proud,” said Vice President of Development Danielle Kellermann. “Our athletic teams in particular really stepped up in a major way. Teams made a significant push to reach out to their donors and players, took part in a phone-a-thon and competed with each other.”
Nancy Kleniewski, Ph.D. ’70, a member of the College’s Board of Trustees, was the top individual donor of the day, contributing a gift of $50,000 in honor of her class’s upcoming 50th reunion next year.
While in the past, Emmanuel participated in the global Giving Tuesday initiative, a shift toward celebrating on the College’s official 100th anniversary was simply “too significant of a date to ignore” when it came to establishing a new Emmanuel tradition of giving. With the momentum of the Centennial behind it, Giving Day experienced a marked increase in total contributions and new donors to a number of designations. Moving forward, Emmanuel’s Giving Day will continue to be held yearly on September 19th.
Giving Day is one of the Office of Development’s strategic initiatives as part of the Campaign for the Second Century, which aims to raise $50 million in support of key institutional priorities including the Emmanuel Fund, the Scholarships Fund, the Campus Fund and the Sister Janet Eisner 40th Anniversary Fund. To date, the campaign has raised more than $27 million toward its goal.