Giving Day is back with more fundraising challenges than ever before
There are challenges, events and the return of Giving Day Live to help raise money for Northeastern on April 14.
Take a stroll around the Boston campus on April 14 and you may spot the fuzzy gray and white ears of a stuffed husky peeking out from behind a shelf in the bookstore or hiding underneath an Adirondack chair by the koi pond.
Ten of these furry toys will be hidden around campus that day for Northeastern’s ninth annual Giving Day. Anyone who finds one can post a photo with #NUGivingDay for a chance to have Northeastern designate $500 challenge dollars towards one of the causes that affect the university. These challenge dollars come from donors or annual giving funds and are earmarked to be used for matching donations on Giving Day.
This is one of over 120 challenges that aims to involve people in Giving Day, a 24-hour philanthropic endeavor where members of the Northeastern community — including families and students — are encouraged to donate to their favorite university-related cause, be it a specific student organization or a dean’s fund, which supports emerging priorities, for one of the 13 global campuses.
“It’s an opportunity (for donors)…to support whatever part of the university that they like,” Lori Jacques, associate vice president for alumni relations and annual giving, told Northeastern Global News. “When someone asks me about giving back, I will always tell them to support the experience they had when they were here at Northeastern.”
On Giving Day, donors are encouraged to give to the university or designate a donation to a specific fund. There are currently hundreds of fundraisers underway for different student organizations, club sport teams, scholarships, academic departments and more. (A full list is available on the official Giving Day website.) This year’s goal is to raise more than $3.5 million and receive gifts from more than 14,000 individual donors, Jacques said.
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Giving Day challenges, like the Hidden Husky, pave the way for a little friendly competition to rake in extra dollars, through pools of matching donations. For example, if the library receives gifts from 90 donors, a group of parents has agreed to give an additional $15,000 to the Library Dean’s Innovation Fund, which supports various library initiatives and collections.
Jacques said this drives university backers, to the point where some people tell her they hold off until Giving Day to make their donation so they can increase their impact.
“We put that competitive edge to it,” Jacques said. “It’s just natural that people like competition and we add to that.”
There are challenges specifically for parents and families. The top three funds with the most donations from past or present Northeastern parents by 8 p.m. on April 14 will receive an additional $1,000 challenge dollars. Similarly, the varsity sports team with the most donations from past or present Northeastern parents will also get $1,000 additional challenge dollars.
There are also social media challenges families can participate in. In the Husky Spirit Challenge, for instance, participants can post a photo of their relative, child or pet in any Northeastern gear and tag it using #NUGivingDay for the chance to win $1,000 toward the fund of their choice.
Those extra motivated to drive donations can also become Giving Day ambassadors, who make their own gift to the university and then receive a personalized referral link for donations. If at least two donors make a gift through an ambassador’s link, the ambassador will be awarded a Northeastern notebook. Those with at least 10 win a notebook and a stuffed husky. The ambassadors who pull in the most donors also have the chance to have more money funneled into their cause of choice.
In addition to online efforts, there will be in-person celebrations. Krentzman Quad will be filled with student organizations, while the university’s different colleges and cultural centers will gather on Centennial Common to showcase what they do.
And, for the second year in a row, the university will also do the Giving Day Live! livestream featuring 10-15 minute segments that highlight different Giving Day causes. Jacques said this year’s schedule, which kicks off at 10:30 a.m., includes segments on the Snell Library (in honor of five new Giving Day challenges for library funds), the Boston campus’ arboretum, and the Oakland and London campuses.
There will also be a reporter going around the Boston campus as part of the livestream, reporting on the events happening there.
“We’re really trying to, in a small amount of time, highlight all the opportunities that there are at Northeastern,” Jacques said.
