Sacred Heart University celebrated Giving Day, its 24-hour fundraising campaign, from noon on Wednesday, April 2 to noon on Thursday, April 3. Students, alumni, parents, faculty and staff united in a mission of giving back by making donations to university programs that can transform the future of Sacred Heart as well as its students.
Every year, SHU works towards making the community aware of Giving Day, ensuring that it is well-advertised to promote participation.
Source: Instagram, @sacredheartuniversity
“I think the message to our students is that Pioneers give to Pioneers. That 56,000-person alumni network celebrates the students of today, and our students of today need to be celebrating the students of tomorrow. It’s this great big family,” said Paul Sutera, Senior Vice President for University Advancement. “We have the heart of Sacred Heart. We want our community of faculty, students, families, and alumni to come together and celebrate all the great things about Sacred Heart.”
Prior to the event, the university requested students, alumni, faculty members and staff to compose Giving Day messages on social networking websites as a means of trying to motivate other individuals in their communities to donate and support programs.
SHU supports some of its various programs with money raised through donations on Giving Day. Some of these include its academic departments and student clubs and organizations. Sacred Heart athletes also contribute to the event’s success.
“I spread the word about Giving Day by not only posting on our team’s social media in search of donations, but also encouraging members of my team to send the link to friends and family in hopes of support,” said Brendan Murphy, AAU Division 1 club hockey team captain.
As calculations are tallied, money donated on Giving Day is spent on enhancing the student experience and furthering SHU’s educational and athletic programs. Whether in scholarship programs, building construction, or the more immediate work of cultural and extracurricular activity development, all donations forward the university’s overall mission.
“This day will positively impact us by not only helping to fund for next season, but also show the support that the SHU community has for each other,” said Murphy. “Giving Day is a response to the close, family-like nature of community at Sacred Heart.”
Varsity and club athletic teams in the university rely significantly on donations to improve training facilities and equipment, as well as travel to competitions.
Donations to university departments are used to subsidize the activities of the faculty, research and students.
“Donations from students, faculty, and alumni on Giving Day are a demonstration of the SHU family in that each donation is a vote for future success of Sacred Heart University and its students for many years to come,” said SHU’s Director of Annual Giving & Donor Engagement, Julia Olsen.
“We exceeded last year’s numbers. I was really proud of our alumni gifts increasing substantially from the year before; that’s a huge positive for faculty and staff. They work here, they spend their time here, but it’s part of their family as well with them taking the dollars they earned and giving back as well,” said Sutera.
As of April 6, a total of $620,061 between 1,954 donors has been raised through Giving Day.
