Day of Giving (DOG) returned to Fresno State for its sixth annual fundraiser, raising over $459,632 for various university groups.
The 24-hour fundraiser invites donors throughout the United States to contribute money in support of one of the university’s eight schools and colleges, Fresno State Athletics or a campus division or program.
However, things looked a bit different this year, as DOG lasted for 1,911 minutes to honor Fresno State’s founding year, 1911.
Festivities kicked off on Nov. 2 at 5 a.m. with a rally on Shaw and Maple avenues, and ended Nov. 3 at 12:51 p.m. Throughout the two days, participants were invited to take part in social media challenges and hourly events for the chance to have contributions matched by other donors.
The DOG website hosted a live leaderboard of incoming donations, with minute-by-minute updates of ongoing challenges and donation stats.
The early bird challenge started off the fundraiser from 5-8 a.m., with first place for the challenge going to the College of Arts and Humanities; second place to the Fresno State Alumni Association; and a tie at third place with the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and the College of Science and Mathematics.
Other social media pushes, such as “Future Bulldogs” and “Midnight Madness,” also had Bulldogs active online, using the hashtag #FresnoStateDOG.
For the first time since the fundraiser’s inception in 2017, donations to support Fresno State Athletics topped the DOG leaderboard, ending the College of Arts and Humanities’ five-year streak at the top of donations.
Over 400 individual donors contributed to athletics, 320 to the College of Arts and Humanities and 172 toward the Fresno State Alumni Association.
In total, 1,780 contributions were made from the U.S. and internationally from the United Kingdom and Norway. This was a 3.61% increase in individual donations compared with last year’s DOG. However, donations slightly dipped this year at 5.53% lower than last year’s total of $486,644.
“We are thrilled with the success of this year’s Day of Giving,” said Paula Castadio, vice president for University Advancement, to Fresno State News. “The purpose of this 1,911-minute digital giving campaign is to support student success at Fresno State and deepen a culture of philanthropy on campus and in our community.”
