WILMINGTON — Students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of Wilmington College marshaled forces on #GivingTuesday to more than double last year’s record amount of gifts received in the 24-hour period.
The College raised $50,386 from 285 donors on #Giving Tuesday, the day in which persons across the nation give to their favorite charities and not-for-profit organizations and institutions. It’s the philanthropic brother to the popular Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions following Thanksgiving.
WC’s #GivingTuesday more than eclipsed last year’s efforts, which brought in a then-record $23,615.
Matt Wahrhaftig, vice president for advancement at WC, expressed his elation with the support the College received from its stakeholders.
“It’s hard to put into words how thankful we are to everyone who supported this effort made on behalf of our students,” he said, noting the excitement on campus Tuesday was palpable as giving numbers began approaching goals.
“Several of our leadership donors made challenge gifts in which they agreed to fund special projects if support achieved certain thresholds for giving amounts and/or number of donors,” he added. “While most of those challenges were met and exceeded, even the two that were not fulfilled garnered such impressive support that the donors wished to go ahead and fund the special projects.”
Indeed, #GivingTuesday support “helped to unlock” such challenge gifts as a mobile charging station for the student center, two iMac Pro computers for the Communication Arts Dept., a large format plotter printer, $700 to underwrite the cost of printing Woodhouse literary magazine, $5,000 for the Peace Resource Center to create a fund in support of student engagement in peace and nonviolence activities, and special assistance for the newly formed Quaker Thunder Pep Band.
Wahrhaftig said support included $31,067 from alumni while faculty/staff contributed $5,914 and the student-giving component raised $2,230. The Peace Resource Center brought in $7,760 from its constituents, as parents chipped in $2,340 and 21 donors gave $1,075 in support of the pep band.
“The commitment made to Wilmington College over 24 hours on #GivingTuesday is nothing less than inspiring, and will serve to motivate others into seeing WC as a worthy investment of their time, talent and treasure throughout the coming months,” he added.
