Every year the Wabash Advancement Office puts on the 24 hour fundraising campaign known as Day of Giving. This high energy 24-hour event raises the money that Wabash uses to support students, programs and pay staff. After getting off to a blistering start last year, raising $1.6 million during Day of Giving, the Advancement Office is looking to keep the momentum going into this year. In a year that is situated between two major capital campaigns, advancement is focused on meeting their goals.

“The goal is to maximize our support for Wabash College and for students,” said Associate Director of Advancement Initiatives, Hugh Vandivier ’91. “The overall goal for the day is to reach 5,000 gifts during the day.”

Although Day of Giving is April 29, for students the festivities will kick off April 28. Students will be able to pick up their free Day of Giving shirt in the Allen Center from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., with free Kona Ice being provided. The squirrel scavenger hunt, a popular new addition from last years Day of Giving, is making a prompt return. Ten squirrels will be hidden throughout the day, each squirrel will be worth $100 in donations. There will also be affinity challenges, which are cross-campus challenges hosted in different living units.

All of these programs are meant to get students engaged with the day long programming. Advancement has the unenviable task of creating messaging the appeals to every generation of Wabash student, but most importantly, students that are directly benefiting from the money being raised.

“I think we’re getting away from trying to get every student to give,” said Vandivier. “I think our better task is to help students understand that [they’re] benefiting from the support of so many people who love Wabash College. It’s good to get that sort of appreciation because we’re the kind of school where 99% of our students have some sort of financial aid.”

Luckily it seems as though students are willing and eager to engage in the Day of Giving’s programs.

“It reflects positively on the student body if we are active during Day of Giving events,” said Henry Chilcoat ’27, a member of the student Day of Giving Committee. “Alumni who donate that day are reassured that their contributions are benefiting current students and the campus as a whole. Seeing students be active during the day reinforces their beliefs that the spirit of Wabash is just as strong as it was in their day. I also see the choice as a no-brainer: why wouldn’t you want to get out on campus for a day and celebrate Wabash, while helping raise funds to benefit your education along the way?”

Advancement does a plethora of things to make Day of Giving as engaging and fun for students as possible. One of those things is creating a fun theme. Last year, the theme was Sing Thy Praises, this year it’s Scarlet Banner Day. They’ll have an opportunity for students and staff to collaborate on making banners that will hang in Lilly Library all day. They’ll also have a competition between living units to see who can raise the most money. The living unit that raises the most money will win a custom banner that they can display at homecoming the following semester. In addition to this they’ll be doing other unique events such as faculty karaoke and Scarlet Night Lights on the mall.

The importance of Day of Giving can not be understated. The money raised during this fundraiser is integral to the day to day operations of the college.

“In terms of hard numbers, we hope to reach our annual fund budge goal for the college of $3.8 million this year,” said Emily Vetne, Associate Director of Advancement Initiatives. “We are on track to do so long as we get really close to raising $2 million on the day itself. So we really want to get as close to that $2 million goal as possible.”

It’s importance isn’t strictly monetary, however, Day of Giving is meant to connect Wabash alumni of all ages and come together as a Wabash community as a whole. We talk about the Wabash brotherhood and Day of Giving is meant to put that on full display.

“It’s hard to say but as close as you are to your fraternity brothers, teammates and friends here, its a part of life to drift apart,” said Vandivier. “Having something that you can say ‘hey, we’re all tied to this great school’ is really valuable. We want to make sure we’re building and reinforcing connections with people who have felt disconnected.”