Fresno State thanks the community for a D.O.G. well fed

Fresno State and the community rallied together on Nov. 2 to make the University’s first-ever online Day of Giving (D.O.G.) a success as 1,138 unique donors from 29 states and 3 countries participated.

When the 24-hour campaign ended at 11:59 p.m., 168 digital ambassadors had helped secure 1,316 gifts totaling $431,395.

The social media reach was equally impressive with more than 23 million Twitter impressions on tweets with the campaign hashtags #FresnoStateDOG and #FeedTheDOG. The hashtags were used more than 2,800 times, and the University posts on Facebook reached more than 350,000 people.

“I love the fact that so many people got involved — alumni and friends from all over the country and the world,” said Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro. “It gave people a chance to support the University in the areas they care about most and to encourage their friends and neighbors to do the same.”

With the theme “Time to Feed the D.O.G.,” the digital fundraising campaign encouraged donors to make a gift to one of Fresno State’s eight schools and colleges or the program of their choice.

A live leaderboard tracked the money raised throughout the day, providing minute-by-minute updates on the campaign’s website, https://dayofgiving.fresnostate.edu.

The Department of Athletics won a friendly competition for the highest number of donors with 186 gifts, followed by the College of Arts and Humanities with 179 and the Kremen School of Education and Human Development with 146.

Daily and hourly challenges throughout the day provided various cash incentives drawn from a $75,000 challenge fund: the Office of the President allocated $60,000 for daily challenges and the Fresno State Alumni Association Board of Directors donated $15,000 for hourly challenges. (See https://dayofgiving.fresnostate.edu/giving-day/3991/leaderboards for a complete list of hourly challenge winners).

Day of Giving digital ambassadors — volunteers who helped push out the campaign’s message to their own networks via personal social media posts and emails to secure donors — created their own unique URLs to track their progress throughout the campaign.

Students also were involved in events held throughout the day, including a rally along Shaw Avenue outside the Save Mart Center to increase awareness of the campaign and express gratitude to the community. Students, faculty and staff also wrote thank you notes reinforcing the purpose of philanthropy. These appreciation messages will culminate into a thank you video shared with all the donors who participated.

“The Day of Giving campaign focused on participation,” said Paula Castadio, Fresno State’s vice president for University Advancement. “By working together, our University can empower students to excel through scholarships, research, internship programs, enhanced learning environments and campus-life.”

Fresno State’s Day of Giving was a part of a growing national trend for dedicated giving days that have become popular at many universities across the nation. The model can be traced back to the Case Foundation’s America’s Giving Challenge in 2007, which encouraged people to rally their online networks to make giving easier and a part of their daily lives. Fresno State’s Day of Giving was the most successful 24-hour giving day campaign in the California State University system this year.

“The Day of Giving is going to accelerate our progress,” Castro said. “We’ve been getting a lot of positive attention for our student success efforts and, yet, there’s a lot more work to do. Part of that is in support of student scholarships and in further enhancing the quality of our programs. I’m confident that with the University and the community working together, we’re going to keep heading upward.”

For more information, contact Jennifer Mariucci at 559-278-8493 or jenmariucci@mail.fresnostate.edu, or see the D.O.G. Frequently Asked Questions page: https://dayofgiving.fresnostate.edu/giving-day/3991/faq.