Michigan State University’s #GiveGreenDay campaign raised more than $550,000 Tuesday thanks to more than 3,300 gifts from around the world.
The effort took advantage of the timing of Giving Tuesday, a global day of philanthropy that encourages people to give back following Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
A network of advocates helped spread the word online through social media, using the #GiveGreenDay hashtag, which was trending regionally on Twitter for most of the day.
Alumnus David Moehring’s $50,000 challenge gift helped bolster participation, including matching gifts in hourly giving challenges.
Twenty-nine campus programs had specific fundraising goals for the day. The Business College Pavilion project struck a chord with many alumni and friends, who more than tripled the $25,000 goal, raising $81,661 toward a modernized teaching and learning facility for the Eli Broad College of Business.
The College of Music set out to raise $5,000 for the Spartan Marching Band Jacket Fund, and far exceeded its goal by collecting $13,630. That amount pushes the college closer to its longstanding goal of providing the traditional Spartan Marching Band jacket free to freshman band members each year.
For its part, MSU alumni clubs harnessed the vast, international network of Spartans, who made 431 gifts, totaling $64,215 for their respective student scholarships.
The campaign, which ran from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, surpassed its $250,000 goal just before 3 p.m. By 9 p.m., the goal had been doubled.
Gifts ranged from $1 to an anonymous gift of $25,000 and originated from 44 states and 12 countries, including Brazil, China, Nigeria and Australia. There were more than 200 gifts from students, nearly 1,000 from friends of MSU and nearly 2,000 from alumni.
Visit givingday.msu.edu to see social media posts and project-by-project results from the day.