Giving Day
Giving Day is a day-long fundraising drive done almost exclusively online in the fall. The first Giving Day was held 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 various prizes put up as challenge matches. 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.).
In 2012, 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. In 2013, $7,827,636 was raised from almost 10,000 gifts.
Contents
History
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 first Giving Day went live at midnight on October 24, 2012, 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.
In March 2013, it was announced that Giving Day would continue to be an annual tradition for the immediate future, with Giving Day 2013 taking place on Wednesday, October 23.
Prize Structure
Each year, an amount of high-level donations are collected before Giving Day for use as the various prizes throughout the day. In 2012, the Trustees established a pool of $400,000, and in 2013, high-level donors from across the University put in a combined $332,500. The money is segmented into three challenege categories:
Total Dollars Raised
Each school receives a portion of the prize 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
Before Giving Day, a total number of living alumni is calculated for each school. The top 5 schools with the highest percent of their alumni who participated in some capacity on Giving Day receive a prize. This segment is designed 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
After the previous challenges are set, the remaining money is set aside for hourly prizes to be given out. Some prior challenges have included:
- Most donors within an hour
- Most international donors within an hour
- Donor selected at random within a specific hour
- 1754th person to make a gift on Giving Day
- 23rd original #ColumbiaGivingDay tweet
Results
Total Dollars Raised
| School | 2012 Dollars Raised | 2012 Matching Bonus | 2013 Dollars Raised | 2013 Matching Bonus |
| Columbia College | $ 1,282,986 | $ 78,173 | $ 2,474,475 | $ 75,398 |
| Athletics | $ 982,763 | $ 59,880 | $ 1,817,651 | $ 55,384 |
| Engineering | $ 728,012 | $ 44,358 | $ 732,631 | $ 22,323 |
| Business | $ 344,859 | $ 21,012 | $ 525,587 | $ 16,015 |
| Law | $ 287,701 | $ 17,530 | $ 355,782 | $ 10,841 |
| General Studies | $ 82,473 | $ 5,025 | $ 143,054 | $ 4,359 |
| Journalism | $ 72,737 | $ 4,432 | $ 164,966 | $ 5,027 |
| Dental Medicine | $ 50,004 | $ 3,047 | $ 119,053 | $ 3,628 |
| SIPA | $ 45,572 | $ 2,777 | $ 86,891 | $ 2,648 |
| GSAS | $ 38,691 | $ 2,357 | $ 44,908 | $ 1,368 |
| Architecture | $ 35,475 | $ 2,161 | $ 35,515 | $ 1,082 |
| Nursing | $ 29,069 | $ 1,771 | $ 44,718 | $ 1,363 |
| Social Work | $ 28,270 | $ 1,722 | $ 24,470 | $ 746 |
| Women Creating Change | $ 25,681 | $ 1,565 | $ 25,665 | $ 782 |
| Arts | $ 24,624 | $ 1,500 | $ 29,084 | $ 886 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $ 19,954 | $ 1,216 | $ 314,211 | $ 9,574 |
| Public Health | $ 11,121 | $ 678 | $ 17,696 | $ 539 |
| LDEO | $ 4,740 | $ 289 | $ 7,180 | $ 219 |
| Libraries | $ 3,652 | $ 223 | $ 5,431 | $ 165 |
| Continuing Education | $ 3,630 | $ 221 | $ 11,633 | $ 354 |
| Mind Brain Behavior Initiative | $ 1,045 | $ 64 | $ 14,010 | $ 427 |
| Barnard College | N/A | N/A | $ 239,991 | $ 7,313 |
| Earth Institute | N/A | N/A | $ 1,490 | $ 45 |
| Global Centers | N/A | N/A | $ 505 | $ 15 |
Alumni Participation
NB: this represents percent of alumni who participated. Only the top five schools in this category were awarded prizes.
| Rank | 2012 School | 2012 Bonus | 2013 School | 2013 Bonus |
| 1 | Continuing Education | $ 40,000 | Continuing Education | $ 25,000 |
| 2 | Journalism | $ 30,000 | Dental Medicine | $ 20,000 |
| 3 | Dental Medicine | $ 25,000 | Columbia College | $ 15,000 |
| 4 | Columbia College | $ 15,000 | Barnard College | $ 10,000 |
| 5 | Law | $ 10,000 | Journalism | $ 5,000 |
2013 Hourly Prizes
| Time | Type | School | Bonus |
| 9:00 | Most International Gifts | Business | $ 5,000 |
| 11:00 | 23rd Original #ColumbiaGivingDay tweet | Libraries | $ 2,000 |
| 14:00 | Random student donor selected | General Studies | $ 2,000 |
| 16:00 | Most Donors | Athletics | $ 5,000 |
| 17:00 | Random donor selected | Athletics | $ 2,000 |
| 18:00 | Random parent or friend selected | General Studies | $ 2,000 |
| 19:00 | Most student donors | Athletics | $ 5,000 |
| 20:00 | Most young alumni donors | Columbia College | $ 5,000 |
| 18:00 | Random donor selected | Barnard College | $ 2,000 |
| 18:00 | Random parent or friend selected | General Studies | $ 2,000 |
| 22:00 | Most international gifts | Athletics | $ 5,000 |
| 23:00 | Random donor selected | Journalism | $ 2,000 |
2012 Hourly Prizes
| Time | Type | School | Bonus |
| 14:00 | Most International Donors | Business | $ 5,000 |
| 16:00 | Most Donors | Columbia College | $ 5,000 |
| 18:00 | Donor Selected at Random | Engineering | $ 5,000 |
| 20:00 | Most Donors | Athletics | $ 5,000 |
| 22:00 | Donor Selected at Random | Journalism | $ 5,000 |
| N/A | 1,754th Donor | Athletics | $ 5,000 |
