Aggies give back: A Day of Giving
Every Homecoming week, Utah State University celebrates A Day of Giving, a 24-hour fundraising event that brings together students, alumni and donors to support programs across campus.
“It’s Aggies supporting Aggies,” said Jake Russell, traditions executive with the USU Student Alumni Association.
Jonathan Young, USU director of annual giving, helps organize the event every year. He believes the money raised during the fundraiser can have a big impact on students’ lives. Donors can provide funding for scholarships and student support in many different programs. This year, the nursing program received a $100,000 donation for a scholarship fund.
“That same donor donated the same amount last year,” Young said. “Right there — that’s a huge impact just to the nursing students.”
In the past, Young said, donors could give to any area of the university, which was exciting but overwhelming. Now, each college promotes a specific scholarship or student fund to encourage more focused giving while still giving donors flexibility to donate to the areas they are most passionate about.
“We’re promoting certain areas, and that could benefit students, but we’re not going to stop a donor from giving somewhere they want to give,” Young said.
This year, members of the SAA passed out snacks outside the TSC to raise awareness for the fundraiser and help raise money for the Aggie First Scholars Program, which provides scholarships to first-generation college students.
SAA has participated in A Day of Giving since the start, and students can also promote the fundraiser by signing up to be advocates. Advocates don’t have to donate. Instead, they can share a link to the donation platform to help spread awareness.
“Through that link, donors give, and they can see how much money they generate themselves as a student, which is pretty cool,” Young said.
In the future, he hopes to expand the student advocacy program and build a new student giving program, which would recognize students who donate each year with a philanthropy cord at graduation.
Young believes the goal of the SAA goes beyond fundraising.
“The main reason the Student Alumni Association is there is to educate students so that when they graduate and they remember seeing Day of Giving stuff, maybe they’ll be reminded to make a gift and give back again to the institution that most likely gave to them through scholarships,” Young said.
Bethany Lloyd is the director of Homecoming and A-Week with SAA.
“The Student Alumni Association focuses on creating lifelong Aggies. We work really hard to keep traditions going and have everyone get involved,” Lloyd said. “We do a lot of things with alumni, networking and getting people the links that they need to succeed past college.”
Young believes donors give because of the experience and connections the university provides.
“You hear often that we are the Aggie family and it’s true,” he said. “[Donors] want to see the university succeed.”
He emphasized the most effective way to grow A Day of Giving is through participation across campus.
“The most important thing that a college can do is promote the day,” he said. “Day of Giving isn’t about the dollars. It’s about the impact we can have in someone’s life. In my job, I typically don’t say that I’m a fund raiser. I’m a dream maker because what we do here at the university provides that opportunity to fulfill someone’s dream, whether that be through a donation or a program.”