The university held Giving DEISday on Oct. 6 through Oct. 9—an annual fundraising event the university hosts as a day of giving. The university exceeded its donor goal with 2,185 donors for this year’s fundraising event.
“This year, #GivingDEISday aims to set new giving records,” according to the event page.
The goal of this year’s Giving DEISday was to have 1,948 donors; the university exceeded this goal with 2,185, which was 112% of the set donor goal. With the donor goal met, the university unlocked an additional $100,000 for Brandeis students due to a contribution from Dan Kazzaz ’74, MA ’74. The university raised $869,144; in 2020 the university raised $1 million with over 2121 donors on Giving Tuesday alone, according to a previous Brandeis Hoot article.
The university typically hosts the fundraiser on the same day as Giving Tuesday, a global generosity movement which encourages people to give back to different organizations and causes, according to the Giving Tuesday webpage. Giving Tuesday is set to be celebrated on Nov. 29, 2022, but the university decided to move the date of Giving DEISday this year, according to the university’s event page. The date moved to align with the same weekend as Homecoming and the Hall of Fame Weekend, according to the event page.
“Giving Tuesday was a great way to launch a crowdfunding campaign at Brandeis, but the day has become so overwhelmingly popular (a good thing, in general) that it makes it difficult for our message to be clearly heard by our alumni and supporters. To remedy this, we moved Giving DEISday to align with Homecoming at Brandeis, making for a unique Brandeis holiday that will amplify both messages,” according to the page.
The university advertised Giving DEISday as a way to help the university be competitive, thrive and be fun, according to a live video advertisement for the event. The funds raised from the event go to various groups on campus including: athletics, student groups, Waltham group, theater, the Gender and Sexuality Center and many more. The funds also help create scholarships and support grants for students.
“Your gift to Brandeis can benefit any area of the university. We have special challenges with bonus funds up for grabs that you can track in real-time on leaderboards,” according to the page.
Brandeis athletics exceeded its fundraising goal by 123%, with 650 donors raising $123,375. The Brandeis Fund—a flexible fund applied to the changing needs of the campus from COVID-19 precautions to financial aid for students—received $410,302 from 657 donors. This exceeded their goal with 262% met. General Scholarships met 48% of their goal with $62,712 from 120 donors.
Each program that had more than 50 total donors to their program that donated $25 or more received a $1,000 bonus, according to the page. Athletic teams that exceeded $7,500 worth of donations would receive a $750 bonus for their program. Departments each received a $5,000 bonus after surpassing $100,000 worth of donations, with an additional $2,500 if they surpassed $150,000, according to the page.
Of the 16 groups that donors could make a contribution towards on the about page, seven made or exceeded their fundraising goal. The other nine did not meet the fundraising goals set, according to the page.
Gifts to the university could be made anonymously, and a minimum donation of $5 was requested. The gift is tax-deductible and matching gifts were accepted, according to the page.