Giving Day a Success

Baylor Family celebrates University’s 175th anniversary with outpouring of financial support

A week after Baylor celebrated 175 years of serving Texas and the nation, more than 2,700 members of the Baylor Family — ranging from alumni and current students to parents and friends of Baylor — joined forces over the course of 24 hours Feb. 12 to make Baylor’s annual Giving Day a great success.

With gifts received totaling more than $878,000, the fundraising initiative directly benefited a wide range of areas across the University by connecting philanthropic generosity with areas of need and opportunities for growth. The gift total represented an increase of approximately 40 percent over last year’s Giving Day.

“Giving Day is a way for the Baylor Family to unite in support at all financial levels, which is one of the greatest things we can do together for our University and for future Bears,” said Sarah Kathryn Hickman, assistant vice president, alumni engagement and annual giving at Baylor. “Our giving funds many scholarships for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend college and supports the University’s top-notch faculty, state-of-the-art facilities and hands-on learning opportunities for students.”

Those participating in Giving Day had a variety of options as to how to designate their gifts. Many chose to make a gift to the general Baylor Fund to support the Give Light campaign, with others directing their philanthropy toward athletics and Bear Foundation memberships.

Some programs used the power of matching gifts to increase the impact of Giving Day. The School of Education utilized a donor challenge to unlock an additional $20,000 in funding, while Student Life used matches and challenges to support multiple areas within in the department, including the rugby team, one of Baylor’s club sports. 

Collaboration with on-campus partners were key to Giving Day’s success, Hickman noted. 

“The Baylor home page promoted online giving all day, and of course President Livingstone was very helpful in encouraging participation,” she said. “In addition, promoting early giving opportunities and including those who have recently made gifts helped us spread the word about Giving Day and provided an additional recognition to our most dedicated donors.”