ARTICLE UPDATED ON DEC. 2, 2017 AT 5:47 P.M.

Students, faculty and alumni united to celebrate Giving Tuesday by raising over $250,000 to fund student scholarships and help lower tuition costs.

THIS YEAR’S RESULTS

Up from the $169,653 of last year’s campaign, Biola saw 783 private donors, despite having a goal of 1,000 donors. These funds will go into the Biola fund, which will prevent a large fluctuation in tuition for all students during the 2018-19 school year.

Giving Tuesday project manager and assistant director of annual giving Amy Weaver explained the emphasis the association put on the number of private donors.

“This year we wanted to invite the community to give a gift, no matter what amount, and to make their participation matter for students,” Weaver said.

When students donated they could vote for one student initiative, either the Biola Food Pantry, Honduras Water Project or Student Missionary Union mission trips, to receive $5,000. The Biola Alumni Association recruited student workers and volunteers, such as junior elementary education major Rebecca Richey.

“It’s good to know the money comes back to students. It’s a cool thing to be a part of,” Richey said.

SETTING GOALS FOR GIVING

During this event, the Alumni Association asked students, staff, alumni and other donors to give to Biola. They also continued having other departments across campus participate, such as the Student Government Association.

“We’re working with SGA to get participation from students and we’re working with alumni for their participation,” Weaver said. “We really want a wide representation because this day we have the opportunity to stand for students and we want all our community represented in that.”

GIVE MORE TO GET MORE

In an effort to inspire donors, the Alumni Association instated and supported incentivizing seven financial goals. Certain donors committed to giving a large sum of money once the university received a specific amount from donors. This gave the supporters reason to keep giving in order to unlock these goals. For instance, supporters of The Pacific Northwest Challenge donated $25,000 after Biola saw over 500 donors during the Giving Tuesday event.

This was not the first time Biola’s supporters have set a financial goal, during Biola’s Giving Tuesday in 2015, Biola saw over $125,000 come in over a 24-hour span. The financial goals help motivate donations, according to Weaver.

“If we hit certain thresholds towards our thousand dollar donors, it’ll unlock some financial commitments that some people already made to the university,” said Kira McCracken, senior director of advancement communications and donor relations. “We’re pushing for hitting the donor goal to see the challenge gifts.”