The University of Victoria community has something extra to celebrate this holiday season, as it marks this year's Giving Tuesday campaign as its most successful ever.
The campaign broke records this year as it surpassed $1 million raised since the university launched its Giving Tuesday initiative in 2016. In a press release, UVic called this year's efforts their most successful campaign to date.
On Dec. 3, a community of alumni, staff, faculty, students and community members came together to raise $251,691 on the day, pushing the all-time total raised to more than $1 million.
A total of 760 donors contributed to this year's cause with 14 per cent donating for the first time, which the university says is a testament to “The growing culture of philanthropy at the school.”
“Giving Tuesday at UVic is about more than dollars – it’s about the collective impact of people coming together to make a difference,” says Jane Potentier, associate vice-president, alumni and development. “This record-breaking year shows how much our community believes in supporting the next generation of change-makers.”
UVic says more than 1,900 students participated in Giving Tuesday this year, by engaging in play-it-forward-style games, such as a life-sized game of Monopoly, trivia and more. The games put the power to give in the hands of students to direct funding UVic had already received towards a cause of their choosing. This year UVic highlighted four priority funds as a focus of their campaign, among the 26 total funds the university supports. This year's priority funds were the Student Food Bank, Pathways to Education, the Student Wellness Centre and ITOTELNEWTEL LTE Learning From One Another.
