On April 3, the BU community celebrated its sixth annual Giving Day—a 24-hour fundraising drive that saw more than 11,886 alumni, students, faculty and staff, and friends raise over $3.25 million for the BU causes they care about.

Donors from 48 states and 50 countries came together to support research, student life, and athletics at the 17 schools and colleges across BU’s Charles River, Fenway, and Medical campuses.

Rhett shows his Terrier spirit by dancing outside the George Sherman Union for the sixth annual BU Giving Day April 3, 2019.

“As an alumna and volunteer, I’m fortunate to see firsthand the impact that philanthropy has on the BU community,” says Denise M. Schier (ENG’81), chair of the BU Alumni Council development committee. “BU Giving Day is a special celebration of that impact. It’s incredible to see thousands of people from around the world rally together to give back and support the BU causes that matter to us.”

“With more than 400 areas of BU receiving donations in 24 hours, Giving Day showcases how wide-reaching philanthropy is at the University,” says Steve Hall, vice president for alumni relations. “The generosity of our donors helps move research forward, open doors for deserving students, and make the BU experience second to none.”

With $1M in challenge money, everyone wins

A number of special challenges—with a total of more than $1 million in prize money available—played out throughout the day. By giving to their favorite school or college, athletics team, club sport, student activity group, or program, donors helped these programs in their quest to earn bonus money.

Mary Milad (CAS’19) (from left), Polen Ural (Sargent’19), and Dera Silvestre (COM’19) and Jacob Wittenberg (COM’21) at the Giving Day Carnival at the GSU.

Special challenges, sponsored by generous alumni and parents, were tracked in real time via the Giving Day leaderboards. Among the special highlights this year:

• The student clubs and organizations with the most donors earned a share of $5,000—prize money sponsored by members of the newly formed Boston University Young Alumni Council. Among the 15 clubs sharing the bonus money, Sabor Latino took home the top prize of $1,000.
• College of Communication student programs vied for a share of $10,000 in a COM-petition new in 2019. The top three COM programs with the most donors were WTBU Radio ($5,000), BUTV10 ($3,000), and the COMmunicator ($2,000).
• The School of Public Health’s 2019 Giving Day goal was 400 gifts. By midnight, the school had received 488 gifts, a 50 percent growth over 2018.
• College of Arts & Sciences departments and programs competed for the most donors, most improvement over 2018, and most revenue, with top prizes going to the Core Curriculum and the physics department. Notably, every participating CAS department or program received at least one gift.
• Club Sports set a new record with 2,901 donors and competed for thousands of dollars in bonus funds, with women’s water polo securing the most support with 251 donors.
• A full list of school and unit challenges is here.

A new high-water mark was established by BU varsity athletics, in both donors and dollars, breaking the $1 million mark for the third year in a row and closing the day with more than $1.3 million from 3,792 donors. Charley Lax (Questrom’82) was Giving Day chair for Athletics; teams took on a three-part challenge for the day, vying for the most donors, most money raised in head-to-head challenges, and most improvement over 2018. Men’s rowing was the top fundraising unit on campus, raising more than $270,000 (while also securing the most donors along with women’s lightweight rowing), and men’s tennis and women’s lacrosse were most improved. The full results of the competitions—including the totals raised by each team—are here.

“Giving Day is such an important day because every person can make a difference for the cause at BU that matters most to them. It’s been so rewarding to be part of the effort and see our collective impact,” says Class Gift cochair Polen Ural (Sargent’19).

Additionally, all gifts made in support of undergraduate financial aid on Giving Day—and beyond, until June 30, 2019—will be matched, dollar for dollar up to $1 million, as part of the Cohen Challenge. Visit bu.edu/cohenchallenge to learn more.

Telefund caller Antonietta Paolino (CAS’20) takes a break from the phones with puppy Rhett during the sixth annual BU Giving Day.

A day for celebrating on social media

On Giving Day, participants from all over the world also joined together—as one BU community—on social media to share their favorite BU memories, favorite programs, and photos of their babies and/or pets in BU gear. It was a day for celebrating BU and an opportunity to drive extra financial support to BU programs.

#BUGivingDay is coming to a close and thanks to your help we’ve raised more than $260,000. There is still time to give! Visit https://t.co/BFjv0kNeLd to see where we sit on the leaderboard. pic.twitter.com/67Nr1JMRLt

— BU Men’s Rowing (@TerrierMROW) April 4, 2019

An ongoing impact

The excitement of Giving Day may have ended at midnight, but the impact of philanthropic support continues all year. BU donors can support the causes they care about most—every day of the year—by making a gift at bu.edu/give. All gifts count toward the Campaign for Boston University, BU’s historic, record-breaking fundraising campaign.

The campaign will come to a close at Alumni Weekend on September 21, 2019. Donors and friends are invited to join the once-in-a-generation victory celebration at Agganis Arena, featuring a live performance by the Boston Pops and student groups, and a spectacular ice show about BU’s past, present, and future.

Find out more about Giving Day here. Leaderboards and challenges have been updated to reflect winners of the daylong and hourly challenges. You can review photos and videos from the day by searching #BUGivingDay on social media platforms or by visiting the BU Alumni Association on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. To relive some of the excitement of BU Giving Day 2019, you can use the hashtag #BUGivingDay in Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Stephanie Quinn (COM’09, CAS’09, Wheelock’17), BU director of annual giving, can be reached at slquinn@bu.edu. Becky McCarthy (MET’14), BU associate director of annual giving, can be reached at bmccarth@bu.edu.