University Set to Celebrate Second-Ever Day of Giving

Photo+courtesy+of+Cheryl+Miller

Paul Crane

Photo courtesy of Cheryl Miller

Jack Judge

On Sept. 18, 1842 Day returns for the second year in a row as the University will celebrate its annual day of giving. Starting at 12:00 a.m. and lasting until 11:59 p.m., 1842 Day is a full scale fundraising effort that is rooted in the University’s tradition with the purpose of mobilizing individual donor participation. 

Specifically, the primary goal of the campaign is to reach 5,000 individual donors in 24 hours.

This year’s goal is juxtaposed with the tremendous success of last year’s inaugural day of giving where the initial goal was to garner 1,842 individual donors in 1,842 minutes and that was well exceeded. 

By the conclusion of the first ever day of giving. 4,756 donors raised more than $6.6 million distributed to over 150 unique areas of the University. Cheryl Morris, Assistant Director of Digital Fundraising, was astounded by the success of the first-ever 1842 Day. 

“We exceeded by far every goal we had,” Morris said. The success of this day, she continued to say, is firmly rooted in the Augustinian identity and tradition. 

Not only is the day of giving occurring on the same date that Villanova College first held classes in 1843, but it is also a reflection of a fundamental Augustinian tradition of improving one’s life through improving the lives of other. This is a unique as well as tangible way for the community to unite and translate this philosophy into practice.

In order to accomplish the commendable goals for this year’s 1842 Day, the day of giving will be actuated on two fronts: on-campus and a strong social media effort to reach out to the University’s community far and wide.

 NBC10 anchor Keith Jones will once again be broadcasting on Facebook throughout the day from the University’s campus. Jones, an alumnus of the Class of 2007, will be streaming from the University’s Facebook page and will be conducting various interviews and touring new spaces on campus.

There will also be a variety of on campus events throughout the day to help garner support. This includes numerous student performances, raffles, replays of both the 2016 and 2018 men’s basketball championship games as well as the “Cat Cab.” 

The Cat Cab is the University’s own take on the popular trivia game show “Cash Cab,” however, students will have the opportunity to answer questions and win money to support their school/college, favorite student organization or another area that is meaningful to them. 

Ultimately, 1842 Day is an incredible expression of the University’s strong culture of philanthropy, according to Tracy Krentzman, the Director of Annual Giving. In the 2018 fiscal year, Krentzman highlighted that 1842 Day was instrumental for the University to reach its goal of 30% undergraduate alumni giving participation. Much of the success of the day of giving is grounded in the theme of participation.

“There is a place for everybody to give back,” Krentzman said as she described the many ways and areas for people to contribute. Each donor can decide on the amount they would like to give as well as the area they would like their donation to go towards. 

Krentzman offered a specific anecdote from last year’s 1842 Day that included a phone call, made by University President Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, Ph.D., to a potential donor from Montana. One of the subsidiary goals for the day of giving is to secure donations from all fifty states. In order to help accomplish this goal, Donohue and other high ranking members of the University’s administration regularly pitch in.

The day of giving’s website provides dynamic feedback which displays up-to-date feedback of the day’s progress.