Giving Day
Giving Day was a day-long fundraising drive on October 24, 2012. All sixteen schools of the University participated, as well as Athletics, the Libraries, and a few centers. Alumni, students, parents, staff, faculty, and friends were encouraged to donate to the school or program of their choice as part of a friendly competition to earn a portion of the $400,000 put up by the Trustees as a match. All donations would go to the annual funds of the various schools and programs, which are current-use funds for operating costs (such as financial aid, lab equipment, etc.).
Overall, the University raised over $6.8 million through the initiative. Every dollar raised was considered part of the Columbia Campaign, even though it had already surpassed its goal of $5 billion by that time.
Contents
Background
The Office of Alumni and Development announced it would pursue Giving Day in September 2012. While a few states and other non-profits had done similar events (e.g. Minnesota has an annual Giving Day benefiting state charities), this was the first attempt by a major U.S. university to do so. All sixteen schools signed up to participate, as well as several programs and centers. The program was run centrally by Annual Fund Programs, a division of the Office of Alumni and Development that focuses on raising money for the schools' various annual funds.
The event went live at midnight on October 24, and was run exclusively online through various social media outlets. There were two live-chats promoted as part of the day: a Deans' Roundtable moderated by Sree Sreenivasan as well as a live-chat with Nobel laureate Eric Kandel.
Prizes
The Trustees established a pool of $400,000 to be used as prize money for various milestones. The money was segmented into three categories:
Total Dollars Raised
$250,000 was set aside for a dollar challenge. Each school would receive a portion of that money based on the amount they raised that day in relation to the overall total. For example, if Columbia College raised 40% of all dollars raised on Giving Day across the University, they would receive a bonus of 40% of $250,000, or $100,000.
Alumni Participation
$120,000 was set aside for alumni participation. Before Giving Day, a total number of living alumni was calculated for each school. The top 5 schools with the highest percent of their alumni who participated in some capacity on Giving Day would receive a prize. This segment was to help smaller schools who might not be able to raise as many dollars as the larger schools, but might be able to get a larger percentage of their alumni to participate.
Hourly Prizes
The remaining $30,000 was set aside for hourly prizes to be given out:
- Most donors within an hour (2)
- Most international donors within an hour
- Donor selected at random within a specific hour (2)
- 1754th person to make a gift on Giving Day
Results
Each participant school and program received donations, varying widely. The overall total for the day was $6,830,391, the most money raised in a single day in Columbia's history (excluding single major gifts such as John Kluge's $400M gift).
Prizes were awarded accordingly:
Total Dollars Raised
| School | Dollars Raised | Percent of Total | Matching Bonus |
| Columbia College | $ 1,282,986 | 31% | $ 78,173 |
| Athletics | $ 982,763 | 24% | $ 59,880 |
| Engineering | $ 728,012 | 18% | $ 44,358 |
| Business | $ 344,859 | 8% | $ 21,012 |
| Law | $ 287,701 | 7% | $ 17,530 |
| General Studies | $ 82,473 | 2% | $ 5,025 |
| Journalism | $ 72,737 | 2% | $ 4,432 |
| Dental Medicine | $ 50,004 | 1% | $ 3,047 |
| SIPA | $ 45,572 | 1% | $ 2,777 |
| GSAS | $ 38,691 | 1% | $ 2,357 |
| Architecture | $ 35,475 | 1% | $ 2,161 |
| Nursing | $ 29,069 | 1% | $ 1,771 |
| Social Work | $ 28,270 | 1% | $ 1,722 |
| Women Creating Change | $ 25,681 | 1% | $ 1,565 |
| Arts | $ 24,624 | 1% | $ 1,500 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $ 19,954 | 0% | $ 1,216 |
| Public Health | $ 11,121 | 0% | $ 678 |
| LDEO | $ 4,740 | 0% | $ 289 |
| Libraries | $ 3,652 | 0% | $ 223 |
| Continuing Education | $ 3,630 | 0% | $ 221 |
| Mind Brain Behavior Initiative | $ 1,045 | 0% | $ 64 |
Alumni Participation
NB: this represents percent of alumni who participated. Only the top five schools in this category were awarded prizes.
| School | Participation Rank | Participation Bonus |
| Continuing Education | 1 | $ 40,000 |
| Journalism | 2 | $ 30,000 |
| Dental Medicine | 3 | $ 25,000 |
| Columbia College | 4 | $ 15,000 |
| Law | 5 | $ 10,000 |
Hourly Prizes
NB: this represents percent of alumni who participated. Only the top five schools in this category were awarded prizes.
| Time | Type | School | Bonus |
| 2-3pm | Most International Donors | Business | $ 5,000 |
| 4-5pm | Most Donors | Columbia College | $ 5,000 |
| 6-7pm | Donor Selected at Random | Engineering | $ 5,000 |
| 8-9pm | Most Donors | Athletics | $ 5,000 |
| 10-11pm | Donor Selected at Random | Journalism | $ 5,000 |
| N/A | 1,754th Donor | Athletics | $ 5,000 |
