USF Giving Day A Success

USF Giving Day 2018 had no shortage of success, with hundreds of donors across the country coming together to support USF.

Kelsey Freidel-Nelson, director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations, explains what USF Giving Day is and how it impacts students.

“It’s basically a way for the entire community of Sioux Falls to come together and celebrate USF and also give money back to student scholarships,” Freidel-Nelson says.

With this being the second year of the event, all expectations were blown away. 272 people donated to the scholarship fund, exceeding the goal of 250. In total, $110,000 was raised to help students come to USF.

During the event, many challenges took place to encourage donations, unlocking fun USF-related prizes when completed.

“Challenges on Giving Day can range from anything, like our Drop and Give Me 50 Challenge, which, if we had 10 $50 donations in the first hour, the athletics department did 50 pushups. Another one was the Sid Kortemeyer Challenge. If we had 40 donors within a certain timeframe, he said he’d grow back his ‘fro,” Freidel-Nelson says.

Students were able to express their gratitude by signing thank-you cards, in which they included their names, majors, and graduating years.

Freidel-Nelson thanks everyone involved and is hopeful that Giving Day will continue to be a success.