1,023 donors contribute $238,561 to Adrian College on GivingTuesday
Posted Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Author: Mickey Alvarado
Adrian College received overwhelming support on “GivingTuesday” with 1,023 donors contributing a total of $238,561 — setting a new all-time high for one day of giving.
“Every year since GivingTuesday began, we’ve seen steady growth in the number of people who want to help, and the overall financial contributions have exceeded our expectations,” said Jim Mahony, vice president of development at Adrian College. “We are humbled by the impact our Bulldog alumni, family, and friends continue to make on our campus.”
GivingTuesday is a global movement that inspires millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year, GivingTuesday raised approximately 3.6 billion for charity.
When Adrian College joined the movement in 2015, Mahony said his office raised approximately $5,737 from 20 donors. To date, 2,882 GivingTuesday donors have contributed a total of $785,271 to Adrian College.
“I’d like to personally thank each and every one of our donors,” Mahony said. “We’ve been able to do so much more for our students through scholarship support and to improve our campus thanks to their generosity.”
“GivingTuesday is not all fun and games — it’s serious business when it comes to raising money,” said Craig Rainey, Adrian College Athletic Director. “We ask our athletic teams to help out and seek donations, which go to support their own programs, and they do, bringing in thousands of dollars.”
This year, the athletic teams raised $95,359.
An anonymous donor motivated the Bulldogs’ teams to raise as much as possible with bonuses for those who hit specific challenges. The total amount of bonus funding is $15,000.
“The coaches in particular get really juiced about that because they’re so competitive. They want to win those bonuses,” Mahony said. “The teams get to use the money for whatever they want, like travel costs if they’re going to a national tournament. I heard the softball team is using their money to get all the members new playing shoes.”
Three athletic teams received $3,500 bonuses for reaching the highest goals — NCAA men’s hockey raised the most money ($14,865), cheer and dance had the most donors (161), and softball had the biggest percentage increase from the previous year.
Two teams and an academic department each earned $1,000 bonuses — Cross country/track and field for being the first to reach 50 donors, and women’s wrestling for being the first to raise $1,000. The Performing Arts Department earned a $1,000 bonus for being the academic department or student organization to raise the most money, $12,945.
The top 10 Adrian College teams listed for Most Money Raised were:
- 1 — NCAA men’s hockey ($14,220)
- 2 — NCAA softball ($11,730)
- 3 — NCAA women’s hockey ($8,733)
- 4 — Golf ($4,848)
- 5 — Men’s Soccer ($4,975)
- 6 — Cheer and Dance ($4,476)
- 7 — Football ($3,280)
- 8 — NCAA baseball ($2,685)
- 9 — Cross-country/track and field ($2,463)
- 10 — Men’s wrestling ($2,230)
The top 10 Adrian College teams listed for Most Donors were:
- 1 — Cheer and dance (161)
- 2 — NCAA women’s hockey (114)
- 3 — Cross-country/track and field (80)
- 4 — NCAA men’s hockey (66)
- 5 — Football (46)
- 6 — NCAA baseball (35)
- 7 — Men’s basketball (34)
- 8 — Men’s lacrosse (26)
- 9 — Men’s Soccer (24)
- 10 — NCAA softball (23)
Mahony said the remaining donation funds will go towards scholarships, academic departments, student organizations, campus beautification, and dozens of other funds outside of athletics.
“We had several academic departments make targeted outreach efforts for their specific needs,” Mahony said. “The funds they raise also go directly to their own projects.”
For more information about Adrian College’s development projects, contact Mahony at jmahony@adrian.edu.
