For the past three years, Tulane University has hosted an annual “Giving Day,” but this year’s event was certainly for the record books as fundraising records were broken by nearly 45% when thousands of donors came together to celebrate the historic university. As detailed fully in a press release from the university, the 24-hour “Give Green: A Day for the Audacious” was an event held on June 25, after having been postponed twice by the university out of respect for the challenges faced by members of its community.
This year, over $1.1 million was raised from a collection of more than 2,700 gifts, according to the preliminary numbers. In the recent history of Tulane university, the “Giving Day” event stands as a celebratory watermark for the school, but with such a challenging year as 2020, many perceived the event as an outstanding achievement and a powerful vote of confidence in the Tulant institution at large.
“Given the uncertainty of the past few months and the multiple postponements of Give Green, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the astounding generosity of our Tulane community. I know that Tulanians everywhere have dealt with extraordinary challenges this year — so to see them come together in support of the university was even more powerful than in the past,” said Jenny Nathan Simoneaux, executive director of Annual and Leadership Giving at Tulane.
Contributions for this year’s “Give Green” event were from all reaches of the country and world as the gifts came from all 50 states and from 12 countries during this remarkable 24-hour event. Donor momentum was kept high during the day thanks to over two dozen challenges and matching gifts that further boosted the impact of generosity to schools, units, and initiatives all across the university.
On Give Green Day, the grand prize, The Carol Lavin Bernick Big Green Grand Prize, lightly takes advantage of the “winning nature” of Tulanians near and far, fostering friendly rivalries between schools and participants by offering bonus funds for the highest number of gifts donated. Tulane Athletics, Newcomb Institute and the School of Professional Advancement each won an extra $5,000 because they received the highest number of gifts in their respective categories. Tulane Law School, the School of Liberal Arts and the Center for Public Service won $2,000 each. The A. B. Freeman School of Business, the School of Science and Engineering, and the Tulane University Marching Band also received a bonus $1,000.
Alumni with reunions in 2020 (those whose graduation years end in 0 or 5) were also offered a special challenge — the largest one this year — with an anonymous reunion celebrant matching up to $50,000. Overall, those classes more than tripled that challenge — bringing in $234,317 toward their class totals.
The event was a resounding success across various social media platforms throughout the day as Tulanians shared their excitement about the university with friends, family and colleagues.
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