Lipscomb gears up for the 6th Annual Giving Day on Feb. 22, 2024
In anticipation of another successful Giving Day, Bisons are encouraged to sign up as ambassadors and add to the collective impact
Keely Hagan | 615-966-6491 |
Closing of Giving Day 2023
Lipscomb University and Academy are preparing to celebrate our sixth annual Giving Day on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. The 24-hour fundraising blitz, aimed at fostering a sense of community and collective impact, has become a tradition for Lipscomb alumni and supporters.
“The premise of the day hasn’t changed since the first Giving Day,” says Stephanie Carroll, assistant vice president for Annual Giving and Alumni and Parent Engagement. “We heavily focus on participation. We want people to know that their gifts are important, and their participation is crucial.
“While large gifts can be transformational to this campus, when we come together as a community, and all give a little, we can make a collective impact,” says Carroll. Even with the average Giving Day gift around $125, the five-year collective funds raised stands at $6.5 million.
One notable trend is the increasing enthusiasm for matching and challenge gifts from passionate individuals who use the platform to share causes and encourage others to contribute. Last year’s challenges included the Overall Donor Challenge of 3,500 donors that met and unlocked a gift of $50,000 for scholarships; the University Students Challenge that was met by more than 200 student donors, resulting in a $10,000 gift for scholarships; and the University Parents Challenge of 150 donors that doubled the challenge with 336 donors and earned a $10,000 challenge gift for scholarships.
While more than 140 projects across campus receive donations on Giving Day, endowed scholarships, especially the Lipscomb Opportunity Scholarship, receive the most funds. Scholarships play a pivotal role in making higher education accessible to students from diverse economic backgrounds and help keep Lipscomb the first choice of top-achieving students who receive generous financial aid packages from other institutions.
The success of Giving Day is not only attributed to individual contributions but also to a thriving ambassador program.
The ambassador program allows individuals to sign up, receive information about Giving Day in advance and share graphics on their social media and personal networks. Ambassadors motivate their friends, family, classmates and colleagues to participate in #LipscombGivingDay and give to what makes them most proud to be a Bison and/or a Mustang.
Each ambassador receives a unique URL code to track their personal impact. Prizes are awarded to those who bring in the most donors and funds. Perry Moore, a well-liked and admired professor in the College of Business accounting program, has been the top ambassador for the last five years. In the spirit of the day, Moore challenges this year’s ambassadors to catch up with him.
Paying it forward is important to our young alumni, says Carroll who reports that the majority of the day’s alumni donors hail from graduating classes of the past 10 years. She suggests that perhaps they reign because of the nature of the online event or the many tangible projects they can contribute to and follow throughout the day, or their unique perspective of having witnessed and benefitted from the impact of the day when they were students on campus during the first Giving Days.
“I am proud of how well the Lipscomb community shows up on Giving Day,” says Carroll. “Because of their spirit of generosity, we have been able to create in just five years a tradition that transforms the campus and exemplifies the power of collective giving and community impact.”