Pioneer pride makes Day of Giving a major success

For its inaugural Day of Giving, Alfred State called upon alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends of the college to come together and help raise $50,000 from at least 300 donors.

That call was answered in a big way, as 680 donors contributed a grand total of $102,249 in cash and pledges that will be used toward technology, new programs, athletics, scholarships, student clubs and organizations, and more.

Alfred State President Dr. Skip Sullivan said, “I am extremely pleased by the tremendous generosity shown by all members of the Alfred State Family in our inaugural Day of Giving. It is through the support of many Pioneers and friends of the college that we were able to far surpass our goals, and I thank each and every donor for their kindness. Each contribution is greatly appreciated and goes a long way toward helping our students.”

Trish Haggerty, director of Annual Giving, said, “We are ecstatic about the results of our first-ever Day of Giving here at Alfred State. The support for our students and the college as a whole was overwhelming. We hoped to surpass our goal of $50,000 and 300 donors, but I don’t think any of us expected such an amazing day of philanthropic outpouring from our alumni, faculty, staff, students, friends, and family. We had been planning this day for more than six months, and could not have done it without the help of our committee members and volunteers!”

Throughout the day Nov. 29, Alfred State held a number of fun events to coincide with the Day of Giving, including raffles, Christmas tree decorating, a chess challenge, an organization suite decorating contest, band performances, and more. The college also posed challenges that were unlocked whenever a certain goal was met.

The challenges, all of which were unlocked, were as follows:

• Faculty and Staff Challenge from President Sullivan: $1,000 was unlocked when the college reached 50 faculty and staff who donated.
• Photo Challenge: The $500 winner of the best photo using the hashtag #ASCDay2Give was the Baja team.
• Athletic Challenge: Sponsored by Under Armour and ADPRO Sports, $5,000 was unlocked when the goal of 100 athletic alumni donors was reached.
• Halfway There Challenge: Sponsored by the College Council, a $9,000 gift was unlocked when the donation total hit $25,000.
• Clubs and Organizations Challenge: The club with the most donors, Delta Chi Omega, won $500.
• Donor Goal Challenge: Sponsored by the Development Fund Board, $8,825 was unlocked when Alfred State reached 300 donors.
• Greek Alumni Challenge: Sponsored by Tom and Ann Ward, a $5,000 gift was unlocked when the college reached 100 Greek alumni donors.
• GOLD Alumni Challenge: Sponsored by John Coughlin, $5,000 was unlocked when Alfred State reached 100 “Graduates Of the Last Decade” donors.
• Distance Challenge: A total of $1,000 went to the club with the donor from the farthest distance. The winner was Delta Chi Omega, with a donor from Abu Dhabi. An additional $4,000 was unlocked for having a donor from more than 1,508 miles away. Both gifts were sponsored by Lee and Martha Brasted.

“The excitement of the event was amplified by the student activities throughout the day and the engagement from the student body,” Haggerty noted. “Overall, we could not have asked for a better day!”