BOZEMAN — Nearly 1,650 donors raised $374,663 for Montana State University programs, causes and groups during MSU Giving Day, a 29-hour online crowd-fundraising event held Feb. 15-16.

MSU Giving Day, which was designed to raise support and awareness in addition to funds, shined a light on 84 projects at MSU. Organizers said they were deeply grateful to the 1,649 donors who participated in the fourth annual event.

“It was gratifying to see the increased level of participation across the board this year,” said Stephanie Pressly, vice president of communications and annual fund at the MSU Alumni Foundation. “Dozens more MSU projects and programs encouraged 26% more donors this year over last year to rally to their causes. The Bobcat community showed its blue and gold spirit once again.”

As part of Giving Day, all MSU students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends were invited to participate by making a gift and championing projects during the event through its website, givingday.montana.edu. There, donors could view the groups and projects seeking funds and choose a project 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 hours to allow donors to magnify the impact of their gifts.

In the first hour, more than 200 donors participated and gave $27,585.

“We were blown away by the number of donors who participated this year and helped so many MSU students,” said Samantha Patton, associate director of the annual fund at the MSU Alumni Foundation. “Although this is only the fourth annual MSU Giving Day, every year we are humbled that friends of Montana State choose to give and understand the importance of investing in future leaders and involved citizens.”

One group that sought funds through Giving Day, the MSU Alpine Ski Club, set a goal of $1,500 to aid with travel, lodging and meal expenses for the team to attend the Western Regionals race outside of Boise, Idaho. The group raised more than twice the amount it aimed for, finishing with $4,165. Rebecca Johnston, safety officer for the Alpine Ski Club, said the team was floored with the support they received in their first year with MSU Giving Day.

"It’s super rewarding because my freshman year, the club was barely anything and we were kind of struggling,” said Johnston, a senior majoring in marketing. “We didn't really have an adviser; there were seven kids my freshman year. Now we've grown to 20 active athletes, we have a full board of president, vice president, secretary and more. It's been really cool to be part of the change for the club and rewarding to see us raise so much funding.”

The team plans to reinvest its extra funds back into the program to cover travel costs next year, potential training opportunities and to lower dues for athletes.

Jabs First-year Experiences participated in MSU Giving Day for the first time this year. Housed in the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, the program focuses on the critical first year of the college experience by inspiring and supporting new students to understand the value of their business degrees. The group raised more than $2,866, which will support formal and informal programs to engage business students.

“We are just grateful for the generous donors,” said Brenda Truman, the college’s assistant dean for student services and retention. “The money that we're raising through MSU Giving Day this year will help us provide a whole year's worth of critical engagement opportunities for those first-year students, which is so exciting.”

Truman added that, among other efforts, the program plans to place welcome tents on the first day of school to distribute snacks and help new students find their first classes; hold dinners with professors in the dining halls; and host the Jabs First Year Expo, which allows students to explore engagement opportunities like internships, study abroad experiences, student clubs, support resources and more.

“It's really validating that donors are reading about our project, seeing value in it and wanting to contribute to help the next generation of college students,” Truman said. "We're excited to start planning for the future. What are we going to do next year? How can these funds help us build on what we started and grow and expand and make it better for our students?”

The Inclusive Community Camp, or ICC, looks to MSU Giving Day to help fund it each year. ICC is a summer day camp that has been carefully designed for children both with and without disabilities. Middle school students spend part of the week working with MSU education students to develop leadership and mentoring skills and then another part of the week serving as junior camp guides to elementary school-aged children.

This year the program raised $2,900. According to Jamie O’Callaghan, co-director of the camp and a staff member in the Department of Education in MSU’s College of Education, Health and Human Development, donations will allow the camp to offer scholarships to families in need, as well as go toward operating expenses, materials for the attendees and support resources necessary to offer a camp for children that have diverse support needs.

“It feels wonderful to know that the work that we're doing is acknowledged by people spending their hard-earned money to support us. It’s incredibly fulfilling,” O’Callaghan said. “We're really thrilled to be able to participate in MSU Giving Day, and the support we've received means the world to us.”

More than 125 donors gave $14,436 to the Bounty of the Bridgers, MSU’s campus food pantry.

"It's always exciting to see high numbers in total donations, but also to see that it's coming from such a big group always makes us feel good that the community is really supporting this program,” said Margaret Davies, basic needs program manager with the Bounty of the Bridgers. “Seeing this success really means we'll be set up well to meet the needs that we've been seeing from students.”

Bounty of the Bridgers is a program that impacts student retention, helping keep them in school, Davies added, because if students are struggling to eat then it's hard to stay focused on their studies.

“The pantry tries to meet that need, and having such success on Giving Day means that we'll be able to continue to support students and get them to graduation," Davies said. 

To view full results from MSU Giving Day, visit givingday.montana.edu.