The generosity of a far-reaching university community fueled the success of Case Western Reserve’s 13th Day of Giving. When the final results were tallied, 3,099 students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends—the largest number of donors in the campaign’s history—had contributed $916,716 to this year’s crowdfunding effort.
Each year on the Day of Giving, the university’s college and schools, athletic teams and student organizations join together to generate support for campus causes through campaign-style, online fundraising.
“Day of Giving was a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish together. It’s not just about raising funds,” said Candace Harmon, CWRU’s director of annual giving. “It’s about uniting our community, celebrating generosity and creating lasting impact for the causes we care about most.”
In the spirit of the day, the Office of Annual Giving hosted events at Tinkham Veale University Center and the Health Education Campus to distribute swag and let the CWRU community know about the ways to make an impact during the event.
Students, teams, schools and many others in the CWRU community took to social media to share the #CWRUGives hashtag and inspire others to support campus causes with their gifts and advocacy—including Cheon il Allado, a student representative for First CWRU, a campus organization that supports first-generation students. In a video, he explained how support on Day of Giving will help first-generation students establish community and navigate college with fewer financial burdens.
Matches and challenges rallied support and maximized impact. Some of these included:
- Weatherhead School of Management Dean Andrew Medvedev matched $10,000 in gifts.
- A match from Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences alumni raised $31,800.
- A match from the Jason Madachy Foundation generated $2,043 to provide stethoscopes for students at CWRU School of Medicine.
Alumni accounted for nearly one-third of the day’s donors, with students making up 10%.
The Mandel School Annual Fund garnered $290,245 in donations, the most of any fund, while the cross country team logged 216 donors—the highest count of any school or campus organization.
While CWRU community members all gave and advocated for the different causes that meant most to them, their generosity will make a collective difference for the student population.
“It all comes down to helping out our students,” said Joshua Bastian, assistant director for leadership annual giving. “It’s a great way to pay it forward, especially if you’re an alum. It’s a great way to give back to the next generation.”