Love Spalding University? Thursday, Oct. 3 is a great day to show your support.
That’s the day Spalding will hold its fourth annual Giving Day fundraiser – 24 hours focused on generating donations from within Spalding’s community of faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the university.
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday and going through midnight, donations can be easily made online at spalding.edu/givingday as Spalding sets the goal of another Giving Day record.
Spalding raised a Giving Day-record $31,161 last year, and it’s raised the bar in shooting for $35,000 this Thursday.
Spalding Alumni Relations and Fundraising Manager Scotty Brooks, who graduated from Spalding in June, said that when he was a student, he enjoyed the sense of community around the university and the feeling of responsibility that everyone shared to help take care of the campus and keep it thriving.
“It’s really nice to see alumni who have graduated who want to support the campus for future students,” Brook said. “I would encourage people to give on Giving Day to enhance the experience of the students who are here now and will be here in the future.”
Spalding will celebrate its Giving Day contributors 6-9 p.m. Thursday with a free concert by the band Bridge 19 at Highlands Taproom, 1058 Bardstown Road. RSVP through our Spalding University Giving Day Celebration online registration. Bridge 19 is led by Spalding alumnae Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil. The event is free and open to the public, but attendees must be 21. Free food will be provided while it lasts, and alumni are encouraged to wear Spalding blue and gold.
“It’s a great way for us to say thanks to alumni and faculty and staff and have them come out and celebrate Giving Day with us,” Brooks said. “It’ll be a great time.”
Most of the contributions on Giving Day go toward Spalding’s Blue and Gold Fund, which has the most need and which supports projects around campus that enhance the student experience.
Contributors, however, may specify another area where they’d like to see their donation directed, including the athletic department, the athletic fields project, scholarships and renovation efforts to the historic Tompkins-Buchanan-Rankin Mansion and its chapel. (With Mansion donations, every dollar will be matched by the Ar-Hale Family Foundation.)
The online form also gives the option of making the gift one time, quarterly or monthly. There are also options to donate anonymously, as a tribute to another person, as a joint gift with a spouse, or as a gift that will be matched by an employer.
Giving Day doubles as the kickoff day for Spalding’s Faculty-Staff Campaign for fundraising, which will continue into November.
Spalding take prides in the level of giving it receives from its employees, which is traditionally higher than many institutions, and the university’s Office of Advancement is again shooting for at least 70 percent participation in this Faculty-Staff Campaign.