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With gifts received from 2,968 students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends, $1,618,114 was raised during ¶¶Òô»ÆƬapp’s fourth annual STAGiving Day on Tuesday, March 20, 2018, to enhance students’ academic and extracurricular experiences. This is an approximate 23% increase from last year, making this year’s achieved totals the University’s highest yet.

STAGiving Day was initiated in 2015 and is held once annually. It is a day for the University community to come together to celebrate Stag Country by dressing in Fairfield gear or wearing red, sharing stories about their favorite Fairfield experiences, and making gifts in honor of persons or programs that have made a profound impact on their lives. Supporters are able to select from a variety of Fairfield Fund (e.g. the Area of Greatest Need, Student Life and Career Services, Financial Aid, etc.) and Fairfield Athletics campaigns and contribute to the areas that are most important to them. No matter which campaign each donor decides to support, every contribution serves to strengthen the institution and provide students and faculty with the resources to thrive.

In addition to raising funds to help advance the University, STAGiving Day was launched as a way to educate students about the importance of giving, and to increase alumni engagement and participation. A university’s participation rate is a factor used to determine its national and regional rankings among higher education institutions in publications like US News and World Report . On March 20, red signage on campus displayed messages from alumni about what inspires them to give and showed examples of how donations make everyday resources available to students, faculty, and staff. “So many from our Stag family have given to make our University what it is today; events like STAGiving Day help to continue and strengthen that giving spirit,” explained Wally Halas, vice president of University Advancement.

This year, the University set a goal to reach 1,500 donors within 24-hours — from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.— a goal that was surpassed by mid-afternoon. As an incentive for their support, donors had an opportunity to receive an exclusive pair of Stag socks with a minimum $75 donation. “Stags seemed to love the socks, as we have mailed over 1,000 pairs to our STAGiving donors,” said William Knapp, senior director of Annual Giving.

This was the second year the University used GiveCampus, an online social platform that allows supporters to donate, share videos, and watch real-time fundraising progress. “Not only could we accept donations through GiveCampus, but Fairfield’s most enthusiastic advocates were able to create their own campaigns, share them through their personal social media channels, and encourage their fellow alumni, family, and friends to join the celebration and support Fairfield,” Mr. Knapp explained.

To lend to the on-campus excitement, special receptions were hosted for Fairfield faculty, staff, and students on STAGiving Day. “We achieved a record number of attendees during each of these celebrations,” added Mr. Knapp. “We used these opportunities to thank our community for their support and to remind everyone how the success of STAGiving Day not only helps to advance the University as a whole, but also positively impacts each Fairfield student, faculty member, and staff member.”

For more information about how to support ¶¶Òô»ÆƬapp, please call 1-877-748-5123 or email annualgiving@fairfield.edu .