Giving Tuesday is one of the most generous annual traditions at Kent State University.
Kent State extended the Forever Brighter campaign theme to this year’s theme of “Continuing the Golden Flash Legacy of Giving Back.”
Funds from the university community that prioritize student success, expand university initiatives, and build the future were selected to be featured. This year, the featured funds within the Division of Student Life include the CARES Basic Needs Student Fund, the LGBTQ+ Emergency Fund, and the E. Timothy Moore Student Multicultural Center (SMC) Emergency Fund.
“Students are the number one priority at Kent State University. In the Division of Student Life, we provide students with opportunities and experiences that will challenge, teach, and allow them to thrive,” said Yvonna Washington-Greer, Ph.D., assistant vice president of Equity, Identity, and Success at Kent State.
“While this is our aim, we must acknowledge the difficulty some students face that impacts their ability to take full advantage of the Kent State experience. The reality is the collegiate experience can often be inequitable. Students face challenges fitting in, financial difficulty, and unexpected emergencies while taking classes,” she added.
The CARES Basic Needs Student Fund was created to support students facing challenges and emergencies such as homelessness and food insecurity.
“The CARES Basic Needs Support Fund operates out of the CARES Center, which opened in 2021 and provides basic needs support for students,” Washington-Greer said. “The center works to connect all Kent State students with both on and off-campus resources supporting their financial, food, housing, and mental well-being basic needs.”
A donor’s gift to this fund will help support students’ basic needs by providing funding for food and shelter so they can focus on their education.
“The LGBTQ+ Center Emergency Fund supports students during a crisis,” Washington-Greer said. “Oftentimes, these students need assistance if they are disowned for coming out as LGBTQ+ or if they experience other financial challenges.”
Gifts made to the LGBTQ+ Emergency Fund will support students experiencing this crisis to help them complete their education at Kent State.
The SMC Emergency Fund was created to support students who utilize the center and are in need.
“The Student Multicultural Center Emergency Fund supports students facing unexpected financial situations,” Washington-Greer said. “These funds can assist by providing dollars to pay tuition, fees, housing, food, and other essential needs to keep them enrolled and on the path toward graduation.”
When a donor makes a gift during this special season of giving, those funds could receive matching dollars and other incentives, which allows the gift to have a bigger impact than at any additional time of the year.
Giving Tuesday kicked off on October 31 with Triple Your Gift Tuesday, where individual contributors and volunteer boards matched (up to $500 per donor) the gifts made to the featured funds until the matching funds ran out ($25,000 total for all donors).
From November 14 to 21, the Donor Dollar Challenge Week will allow the featured funds to receive an extra $2,500 or $5,000 if they have the most unique donors (individuals who count once for each fund) or raise the most money during this week.
Participation Boosts are happening throughout November. If featured funds receive gifts of $25 (or more) from 25 unique donors, they get a $500 bonus until the matching funds run out. There is a $5,000 total match available for each of the funds.
This month also includes incentives, such as the Endowment Incentive and the Planned Giving Incentive. Any new endowments of $25,000 or greater are eligible for a $1,000 match into the connected spendable fund. Also, any planned gifts of $25,000 or greater are eligible for a $1,000 match into an existing fund of the donor’s choice.
The generous tradition will end with the Giving Tuesday Match on November 28, national Giving Tuesday Day. All gifts made to any Kent State funds will be matched dollar for dollar (up to $1,000 per donor) until the $100,000 total matching available for all donors runs out.
The tradition occurs in November of each year, and Kent State has participated since 2013, raising more than $18 million since then.