Hofstra Day of Giving Raises Over $150,000 for Students
Hofstra Day of Giving is a 24-hour social media event that helps raise money for student scholarships, research, and department related activities. // Photo courtesy of Hofstra University.
Hofstra alumni raised $150,000 in a 24-hour virtual fundraising event on Monday, April 5, for Hofstra Day of Giving. The annual event aims to collect money for student scholarships and research opportunities, as well as for individual student-athletes and other beneficiaries.
“All gifts directly go back to affect the lives of students,” said Hope Motreuil, director of annual giving for the Office of Alumni Affairs.
The event featured an online platform displaying the most popular donation recipients, total money raised, challenges and goals. The site also contained a “Donor Wall” and a list of ambassadors working to promote outreach with Hofstra alumni.
The Hofstra Pride Club for Athletics had the highest number of donors in its support of student-athletes. The Pride Club had more than double the number of donors for the Fund for Hofstra, which helps raise money for student scholarships.
The Day of Giving also supports specialized programs for students in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication (LHSC). “The Day of Giving helped us raise money that supports a lot of what happens outside of the classroom,” said Adria Marlowe, associate dean of LHSC. Collectively the Max Kolb Memorial Scholarship, WRHU Radio Fund and the Student Experience Fund have raised $12,850.
Although the event exceeded its goals in alumni participation, the awareness of the fundraiser seems to be unknown among undergraduates.
“I have never heard of the Day of Giving,” said Kaitlin Parente, a senior computer science and mathematics major.
While social media is a popular outlet for user engagement, the Day of Giving had a sparse social media presence. On Twitter, very few tweets were made using the #HofDayofGiving by current students.
I feel like that’s just a weird disconnect, to have no student involvement,” said Mason Pfendler, a junior speech-language-hearing sciences and linguistics double major.
One of the main goals of the Day of Giving is alumni participation. Their involvement will benefit Hofstra in the national rankings, which is a reason for the lack in current student involvement, according to Motreuil.
With Hofstra cancelling many on-campus activities due to COVID-19, student outreach has been a challenge. However, some students believe that current students should acknowledge the people who helping to make their futures a reality.
“I think students should be more aware of where the scholarship funds are coming from,” Parente said.
Moving forward, the Day of Giving plans to make more students aware of its impacts for Hofstra students.
“The goal going forward is to get more student involvement,” Motreuil said.
