The Office of Advancement raised over $919,000 for various organizations on campus during the annual ACU Day of Giving on Wednesday.
Thirty-eight organizations participated in the fundraiser, with women’s basketball beating its goal by the most, $93,667.11, more than tripling its goal.
Julie Goodenough, head coach of the women’s basketball team, attributed the success of ACU Gives to the quality of her athletes and the success of their season this year.
“The money that we raise for ACU Gives helps us meet budget for the school year,” Goodenough said, “With WAC travel, we spend so much money on travel, and we go over budget, and ACU Gives each year allows us to make this budget.”
The Exceptional Scholarship Fund raised $244,946, by far the most money any group raised. The other groups who beat their goal including, ACU Missions at the Halbert Center, Carl Spain Center for Race Studies & Student Action, ACUTV Technology Fund, ACU Debate Team, Center for Pre-Health Professions Medical Mission Trip, Women’s Basketball Excellence Fund, Men’s Golf Excellence Fund, Women’s Golf Excellence Fund, and Volleyball Excellence Fund.
The groups that do the best tend to put more work into engaging with and pushing people to donate, said Samantha Adkins, director of donor relations and annual giving. This included volleyball, which raised more than $30,000 and exceeded the goal.
“The volleyball team really got the word out,” Adkins said. “They did a text-a-thon for their family and friends, and a lot of the teams challenged each player to go and find 10 people that they could ask to give $5 and, of course, most of those are family members or friends, neighbors, who have the capacity to give more than $5, so that was really cool.”
The main goal of ACU Gives is to provide additional funds for the organizations, so even though 30 of the 38 organizations participating did not meet their overall goal, they still connected with financial supporters, Adkins said.
In the fall, applications are sent out to faculty and staff to nominate departments or organizations to be a part of the fundraiser. Out of these nominations, 20 are chosen that best fit the mission of the university.
“I really just want to be sure that it’s something that’s going to be used in the next 12 to 18 months,” Adkins said. “We want to be able to tell donors pretty quickly how the funds they donated are going to be used in the next school year. We really want something that’s student-focused, and I want something that fits the mission and vision of the university.”
The full results and funds leaderboard can be found on the ACU Alumni Association website.
