After A Year Of Canceled Sports, Giving Day Promises To Gather Large Donations For Athletics

Upper West Side NY

20 October, 2021

1:29 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY JORGE HERNANDEZ OCTOBER 18, 2021 Since its inception in 2012, Columbia Giving Day has accrued over $134.74 million in donations for the University. This year, the event hopes to grow that number. Columbia will host its 10th Giving Day—an annual fundraising event organized by the University to collect donations for various programs and schools, such as Athletics, Columbia College, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science—on Oct. 20. Despite having the 10th largest college endowment in the country at the end of the 2020 fiscal year, Columbia claims that philanthropy events like Giving Day are integral to ensuring a stable budget, as it creates additional funds outside of tution and the endowment. Moreover, donors to the endowment are able to specify how they want their donations to be used, leading to many often limiting their gifts to specific areas. Although Giving Day records were shattered last year, the athletic department had trouble garnering donations, particularly because of the cancellation of sports last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Athletics received about 13.5 percent of the total donations, raising about $3 million. However, in 2020, Athletics received only 13.2 percent of the total donations, marking a slight decrease, though it still raised 6.8 percent more than the previous year. Despite the lack of in-person sports last year, Athletics still raised the second-highest amount of donations among University programs behind Columbia College, and its $3.18 million sum was the second most it has raised in the history of Giving Day. Athletics may expect a boost in donations this year due to the return of in-person sporting events as well as the success of Columbia football, which currently holds a 4-1 record. Numerous studies have shown that team performance often correlates to alumni donations. The alumni turnout at Columbia's 23-14 defeat of Penn in Saturday's Homecoming game, the first Homecoming in two years, should bode well come Giving Day. Saturday's crowd of 11,054 ranks as the ninth largest Homecoming turnout in school history. Donors are not required to decide exclusively between the programs and schools at the University, but can "directly address a global issue like climate change or social justice," the Giving Day website says. Among those issues, donors will be able to specify whether they would like to donate to Athletic's diversity, equity, and inclusion campaign dubbed "We Roar Together." Athletics hopes to incentivize donations this year by offering a special bonus that will not be available in future years. To celebrate Giving Day's 10-year anniversary, each athletics program that raises 110 percent or more of its 2019 Giving Day total will receive an additional bonus depending on the amount raised. In order to donate to the cause of your choice, visit the Giving Day website starting on Oct. 20 at 12:01 a.m. There is a $10 donation minimum. Deputy Sports Editor Jorge Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jhernandez2001. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.