Enjoy a sausage for lunch, grilled cheese for dinner or an ice cream sandwich in between. Partake in carnival games, seek out free giveaways and splat your favorite Northeastern coaches with color bombs.

It’s all part of Northeastern’s annual Giving Day on Tuesday, April 11. The festival atmosphere on the Boston campus is more than an opportunity to support student groups and organizations of all kinds—it’s also a celebration as winter is displaced by the warm weather of spring.

In this post-pandemic world, Giving Day has evolved to become a global participation festival that includes five regional settings for members and supporters of the Northeastern community in Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. You can register for Giving Day events in those cities here. 

“Giving Day is the event where the Northeastern community rallies together with their support of our students, faculty, research—the entire global university system,” says Lori Jacques, associate vice president for Northeastern Alumni Relations.

The spirit of Giving Day is fed by students who raise money to support organizations and causes that matter to them. Donations can be made to specific entities or to a general fund for widespread disbursement.

One hundred percent of donations go to the faculty, teams, student organizations and academic programs associated with Giving Day—directly helping students and faculty pursue their ambitions.

“My favorite aspect of Giving Day is that it brings to daylight the numerous funds available for donors to successfully align their passion with their gift,” says Rick Davis, Northeastern’s vice president for advancement global engagement. “Equally important is the focus on participation rather than the size of the gift, which is empowering a very inclusive environment with a shared value for fueling Northeastern’s continued success as a premier lifelong learning global enterprise.”

Last year, in a return to in-person events on campus after two years of limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Giving Day generated record gifts eclipsing $3 million from close to 7,000 donors. 

A record number of challenges have added urgency to the fundraising. The three schools or colleges that receive the largest-percent increase in donors (compared to last year) will divide up $40,000; another $40,000 will be divided among the schools and colleges that raise at least $10,000 by 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

An array of causes and interests are highlighted. If Women Who Empower receives gifts from 100 donors, the program will receive $175,000 from a group of innovator judges and Northeastern leaders. The Ruby W. And LaVon P. Linn Foundation will double donations (up to $1.5 million) that are made toward need scholarships for veterans and active-duty service members. 

Gifts from 75 donors to any library fund will unlock a $10,000 award to the Library Dean’s Innovation Fund from an anonymous parent donor. Student organizations that receive gifts from at least 75 unique donors will be eligible to receive a portion of the $5,000 Student Organization Challenge—which figures to be a popular entry with a record 41 student organizations participating in Giving Day this year. 

As usual, Northeastern sports teams and clubs are sponsoring more than 20 challenges, including the Club Sports Challenge that will spread $5,000 among the three club teams with the most gifts. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Library Quad, coaches from eight Northeastern teams will be available (in return for a donation) to be splatted with harmless but highly noticeable color bombs.  

Several challenges will be operating on a deadline—including a $4,000 reward for the fund that receives the most dollars by 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time from Northeastern parents, past and present. Parents are typically among the most enthusiastic supporters of Giving Day.

All donors will gain access to a designated Donor VIP Area on West Village Quad, where Sausage Guy sausages, Cookie Monstah ice cream sandwiches and Roxy’s Grilled Cheese (with drinks from Notch Brewing) will be available. 

Ian Thomsen is a Northeastern Global News reporter. Email him at i.thomsen@northeastern.edu. Follow him on Twitter @IanatNU.