More than 1,500 donors raised $320,118 for Montana State University programs, causes and groups during MSU Giving Day, a new 29-hour online crowd-fundraising event held Feb. 13-14.

MSU Giving Day, which was designed to raise support and awareness in addition to funds, shined a light on 48 projects at MSU. Organizers of the event said they were deeply grateful to the 1,537 donors who participated.

“We’re very happy considering this is our first Giving Day event,” said Nick Lonardo, vice president of annual giving with the MSU Alumni Foundation. “It’s been gratifying to see so many donors come forward to support the wide variety of causes and projects. For many, it was their first gift to MSU. For some of these project teams, it’s a dream come true to have the resources they need to pursue their goals.”

Lonardo said that highlights of Giving Day included reaching two main goals: to reach $300,000 in gifts and to have 1,000 donors contribute. “We reached the donor goal early Friday, but the dollar goal kept us in suspense until the end,” Lonardo said. “It was a relief to finally see the counter hit $300,000.”

As part of Giving Day, all MSU alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff and friends were invited to participate by making a gift during the event through the event’s website at givingday.montana.edu. There, donors could view the groups and projects seeking funds and choose a group or groups to receive their gift. The website also provided up-to-the-minute progress, descriptions of all the projects in need of support, social media tracking, acknowledgment of donors and announcements of challenges and gift matches. Special challenges and gift matching opportunities were announced throughout the 29-hour event to allow donors to magnify the impact of their gifts. The minimum gift amount was $10.

Scott Smith, president of the Bridger Solar Club and a student in electrical engineering, said Giving Day was valuable to the club for several reasons.
“Giving Day is a great opportunity for us to not only receive support, but also to make connections within the community, as well as with members of MSU’s extensive alumni network,” Smith said. “Building and racing a solar car is a very large-scale project and could never be possible without opportunities like this. We are very thankful to the Alumni Foundation for putting this event together to allow MSU to grow in new and exciting ways.”

Jody Bartz, the Don and Sue Fisher Endowed Professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Development who sought funds through MSU Giving Day for a new Inclusive Community Camp, said the support generated through the event would ultimately make a difference to children in the community. The weeklong summer camp will serve 36 children, approximately half of whom will be children with disabilities.

“We appreciate Giving Day because it is providing the opportunity to raise funds to launch and sustain our Inclusive Community Camp,” she said. “Funds will help us provide activities and equipment needed to ensure that all campers have the best experience possible. We will be able to keep the cost of attending the camp down so that it can be a reality for more children in the future.”

The top two teams raising the most for their cause were:
    •    MSU Leadership Institute, which sought funds to bring world-class speakers to MSU and provide opportunities for students and the community to learn from these individuals. The MSU Leadership Institute met its goal of $10,000 within the first two hours of the event and went on to raise $13,455. For being the project to bring in the most dollars, the team received an additional $2,000 prize for their cause.

    •    Jabs Hands-On, which sought funds to support MSU business students through real-world, out-of-the-classroom educational opportunities. Jabs Hands-On raised $12,036. They were awarded $1,500 for their efforts.
In addition, the following two projects received support from the most donors:
    •    ASMSU Student Memorial Renovation, which sought support for redesigning and renovating a student memorial. The project raised funds from 157 donors.
    •    MSU Treasure State Poll, a project of the Department of Political Science in the College of Letters and Science to field a pre- and post-election poll in 2020, raised funds from 144 donors.

For having the most individual donors, the ASMSU Student Memorial Renovation project received a prize of $2,000, and, as runner-up, the MSU Treasure State Poll earned an additional $1,500.

Full results are available at the Giving Day website at givingday.montana.edu.
“We built this first MSU Giving Day on a theme of ‘Show Some Love’ for MSU because the event took place on Valentine’s Day,” Lonardo said. “The outpouring of love we have seen is truly humbling and inspiring. To all who gave and for all who participated, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”