The 2022 UTSA Giving Day starts at 10:11 a.m. today and will continue for 1,969 minutes until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20. During the 32-plus-hour online event, alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and fans will share their pride in UTSA’s recent momentum and give to the university programs they are passionate about.
The goal this year is 3,000 individual donors, which would be an institutional record for two-day donor participation.
“Today, I encourage Roadrunner Nation—our alumni, faculty, staff, athletics fans and friends within the San Antonio community—to participate in UTSA Giving Day as a sign of confidence in our continued progress and future success,” UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said.
Similar to The Big Give San Antonio—when nonprofits collectively raise funds for their causes—UTSA Giving Day offers participants opportunities to contribute to the programs they care about at the university. There are more than 50 programs from across the university participating, including all colleges and schools, UTSA Athletics, UTSA Libraries and the Institute of Texan Cultures, the UTSA Alumni Association, student well-being initiatives, and more. New to the effort for 2022 are the School of Data Science and the Southwest School of Art.
“Participants last year told us that the competition of UTSA Giving Day made donating fun, so we are excited to renew it again in 2022” Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Karl Miller-Lugo said. “Donors can multiply the impact of their gifts by taking advantage of the many challenges that unlock when donor or dollar thresholds are met. There is more than $200,000 available in challenge funds, thanks to the many donors who stepped up as sponsors.”
As an example, if 150 donors contribute to the UTSA Libraries, then a $25,000 gift will be unlocked from philanthropists Scott Sawtelle and Kathleen Curry that will be used to expand the program that makes some textbook materials available to students for free.
Programs that earn the first and last gifts of giving day will earn an additional $500 each, thanks to Cavender Cares, the charitable program of the Cavender Auto Group. Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union provided funding for a challenge where magnets hidden around campus can be turned in to benefit student programs. The UTSA Giving Day projects with the most dollars raised and most donors will also earn an additional $5,000 from challenge funds donated by alumna April Ancira ’03 and long-time UTSA supporters John Richardson and Jan Puckett.
A full list of challenges and their generous donors is available on the UTSA Giving Day website.
Beyond giving, alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and community friends can also get involved in promoting the effort. Via social media, participants can post a photo of themselves, their family or their pets in UTSA gear with the hashtag #BuildtheNest, and four winners will be selected throughout UTSA Giving Day to award $250 to a program of their choice.
Real-time results will be tracked on the website, including totals for colleges and key programs as well as the map tracking the goal to have gifts from every state in the nation.
“None of the progress that UTSA has made recently would be possible without the philanthropic support of our alumni and our community. We are beyond grateful for the supporters who have contributed to this success, and that includes people who give at all levels, it all makes a difference,” said Miller-Lugo. “The truth is, while the mega gifts have great impact, the university’s momentum is sustained by the gifts of $25, $200, $1,000 that come in through efforts like UTSA Giving Day. Everyone can help Build the Nest to ensure the future success of UTSA.”
The online fundraising event concludes at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20. To make a gift, visit the UTSA Giving Day website.
