Boldest Giving Day ever for UB

For 24 hours — spanning from noon April 30 to noon May 1 — UB faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends from all over the world came together for the fourth annual UB Giving Day, exceeding all projections for both donors and dollars.

This year’s Giving Day coincided with the public kickoff of the Boldly Buffalo campaign, which boosted the excitement and likely success of Giving Day. All three campuses celebrated both efforts with events that included UB leadership, a countdown to noon, food, music, games and a Facebook Live video.

“We asked the entire UB community to come together for one cause on one day: our university. And they responded overwhelmingly,” said Rodney M. Grabowski, vice president for university advancement.

The goal was set at 1,846 donors in recognition of the year UB was founded. “Not only did we exceed last year’s donor total by 122 percent, we also exceeded the amount of money raised last year by 228 percent,” Grabowski said.

Giving Day 2018 resulted in 1,964 donors, compared to 880 last year, and $322,000 raised, compared to $98,000 last year.

“Most universities host giving days as a way to not just raise money, but to create awareness about the impact of philanthropy and further engage alumni,” said Geoffrey Bartlett, assistant vice president for annual giving. “As students and faculty celebrated Giving Day in Buffalo, UB alumni around the world were able to join in via social media.”

New this year: an ambassador program and school- and unit-based challenges. Giving Day ambassadors competed with each other by using their personal social networks and email to publicize the campaign with the help of a web-based platform; nominal prizes were awarded to those who had the most influence on participation and fundraising.

The challenges and matches also gave schools and units incentive to earn additional funds by spreading the word among their constituents. All the while, a leaderboard kept track of the progress of each challenge, increasing the competitive spirit.

According to Grabowski, “the bottom line is that even more UB students will benefit from the generosity of those who gave. It’s amazing how much the UB community was willing to do in one day,” he said.