Giving day breaks fundraising record

Bella Lee, Staff writer

Giving Day, which occurred on March 30, is a 24-hour fundraising event where Mercyhurst students, families and alumni or friends of the University can contribute to the Mercyhurst Annual Fund and Student Scholarship Program.
Over the course of just one day, 604 donors raised $71,355, smashing the previous record set in 2018 and surpassing this year’s goal by 40 percent. Thanks to an anonymous match of $55,000 and an additional gift of $5,000, the total amount raised was over $130,000.
Most donors came from the class of 2020, but donors from the classes of 2006, 2013, 1968 and 1987 also drew plenty of supporters. In terms of location, most donors represented Pennsylvania, but there were also significant amounts of donors from New York, Ohio, Maryland and Florida who all contributed to the 44 states that were represented in donations.
“Anyone can donate to Giving Day,” said Mitchell Marsh, Annual Giving coordinator and the coordinator behind Giving Day. “On Giving Day we had a lot of support from alumni, friends, students, parents and all members of the community.”
This is a fundraiser that does not just benefit the alumni or staff, but benefits the current students as well.
“Giving Day benefits students through the Annual Fund and Student Scholarship Program. The Annual Fund helps fund all areas across campus,” Marsh said.
This includes athletics, the arts, the library, our Catholic mission and more, in addition to the Scholarship Program which helps the vast majority of students.
Fortunately, most of the events did not have to change this year, since this is primarily an online event, but a few tweaks still had to be made.
“Giving Day was already an online fundraising event, so we were fairly COVID-safe to start,” said Marsh. “We did, however, take away the tabling aspect of Giving Day where we let students know what it is and how they can help, but we introduced a Thank A Donor form that helped showcase our support for donors.”
Overall, Giving Day is a heartwarming experience for everyone involved. “We are just so grateful for all those who came together on Giving Day to help make it a success and showcase our love for MU,” said Marsh.
“It really was a great day and we were able to ring the Sister Damien Spirit Bell to celebrate as well.”
If you missed out on donating this year, that is not a problem; planning for next year has already begun.
“Students can participate by contacting the office of alumni relations to have their student story featured, be in our hype video and help us thank donors – planning has already begun for next year,” Marsh said.
The team behind Giving Day could not be any prouder of how far they came with donations.
“I would like to commend all the work the Advancement staff put into Giving Day. They are a dedicated and talented group of people who love Mercyhurst,” vice president of Technology and CIO, Jeanette Britt said.