On Dec. 1, 2015, Wofford celebrated its first #GivingTuesday, a worldwide day of giving fueled by social media. Following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday provided Wofford with the opportunity to kick-start the season of giving and create a tradition of generosity within communities.
An anonymous group of Great Oaks Society donors issued a $30,000 challenge that the college could earn by securing 300 donors in 24 hours. By the afternoon of #WoCoGivingTuesday, more than 300 donors had made a gift. The challenge donors then issued an additional challenge: if, by midnight, 500 donors made a gift, the challenge gift would increase by $8,000.
According to Krista Redding, Wofford's director of annual giving, alumni, students, parents and friends who shared their “unselfies” on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter made the day exciting and added to the success of the event.
Thanks to the generosity of the Wofford community and lots of fun "unselfies," Wofford raised $110,939 from 541 donors on Giving Tuesday. The addition of the challenge gift of $38,000 brought the grand total for the day to $148,939. Thank you to all who helped us make #WoCoGivingTuesday a success!
by Ryann Kroske McCall ’12
Spring 2016