Give SJU Day surpasses goals for donors, amount raised

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November 15, 2018

Saint John’s University is known for rising to face any challenge.

That was evident on Give SJU Day Wednesday, Nov. 14, when alumni, parents, faculty and staff and friends of the school answered the bell and thoroughly blew past the goals for the day.

A total of 1,754 donors contributed $575,533 during the 24-hour period, with the money raised to be used for student scholarships at SJU. Matches and challenges from the SJU Alumni Association contributed $112,000 of the total.

The goals were to reach 1,200 donors and raise $450,000.

“Give SJU Day was an outstanding day for Saint John’s and a big increase over last year,” said Raj Chaphalkar ’08, director of annual giving at SJU. “We were very pleased to see a 62 percent jump in donor numbers since a year ago. This is a testament to the passion of our volunteers and the outreach they made to classmates on phone, email and social media. I’m so proud of this community.”

Here are some statistics from Give SJU Day:

  • Donors came from 44 of the 50 states and five other countries besides the U.S.;
  • Alumni accounted for 75 percent of the donations, followed by parents (16 percent), faculty/staff (4 percent), friends (3 percent) and students (1 percent);
  • Forty-two alumni set up their own matches – most of them to a specific class;
  • The top class in terms of donors was the Class of 2010, with 42 donors who contributed $7,145. The next two classes were the Class of 2002 (37 donors, $3,825) and the Class of 1999 (34 donors, $5,850).

“Yesterday was a massive success for SJU and the Class of 2010,” said Class Gift Volunteer Gabriel Harren ’10. “This is about paying it forward and making the SJU experience available to young men who discover our community. This is about building a 2010 legacy that we all should be proud of. Thank you for showing up (Nov. 14)!”

Give SJU Day was powered by the SJU Alumni Association, and is the biggest giving day in support of Johnnies.

Additional gifts can be made to the SJU Student Fund.