Members of the Class Gift committee, here with President Gilliam (and of course, Rhett) at the GSU, educate their peers on the significance and lasting impact of philanthropy, with a special emphasis on the graduating Class of 2025.

Giving

BU’s 11th Giving Day Raises Record-Setting $4.5 Million

More than 12,000 alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends from around the globe gave to hundreds of causes across the University

More than 12,000 donors raised $4.5 million during Boston University’s 11th Giving Day on Wednesday, April 9, setting Giving Day records for both the number of donors and the number of dollars raised. Alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, and friends from 53 countries and all 50 states contributed to 750 causes across the University during this annual event, consistently BU’s largest fundraising day of the year.

The momentum started early, with donors propelling BU past the $1 million milestone by 10:30 am Wednesday. And by noon, over 5,400 people had made a gift.

“The BU community met this moment with generosity and excitement. They really took the ‘Right Here, Right Now’ theme to heart, and gave enthusiastically to support our students,” says Danielle Reddy, interim vice president for alumni engagement. That enthusiasm shattered previous Giving Day records, bringing in half a million dollars more this year than in 2024. “People sometimes think that only six-figure gifts matter. But Giving Day shows us that donations of any size make a huge impact,” Reddy says.

As in past years, challenge matches and bonus funds promoted friendly competition among groups and increased participation from donors. This year, BU raised a record-setting $1.5 million in bonus funds from 145 donors, which were distributed to more than 80 eligible funds across the University. Several groups secured multiple awards, including some newbies. Among the highlights:

Giving Day Advocates (formerly called ambassadors) were instrumental in this year’s fundraising success. Over 800 members of the BU community signed up to encourage their friends, families, and peers to make gifts. Advocates were assigned unique giving links to share and could track the funds they were responsible for bringing in. Brett Mitchell (COM’28) took the top spot as an all-star Advocate, bringing in $9,654 and 240 gifts overall, and an extra $2,500 in challenge funds for The Dear Abbeys a cappella group.

“The best word to describe Giving Day is ‘community,’” says Sophia Featherstone (COM’25), chapter leader for Her Campus BU, a media platform for college women, by college women. Her Campus won the Advocate Signup Challenge, registering 97 advocates before Giving Day began. “It’s been so lovely. We came together to make the biggest impact possible, because we are all aligned on our mission and vision: to give women a platform to be heard at a big university.” Chapter members filled their GroupMe chat with words of encouragement to keep the gifts coming in throughout the day. “We’ve been saying, ‘Lock in!’ a lot today,” Featherstone says.

Especially active this Giving Day were members of the BU Alumni Council, who created a scholarship fund in 2023, calling upon BU’s more than 390,000 alumni to support educational access for current and future students. This year, the BU Alumni Association Scholarship Fund raised $44,409 and met its goal of 50 donors.

“Alumni are some of BU’s most passionate advocates,” says Kellie Sullivan, executive director of annual giving. “We saw incredible participation across generations of alumni, from soon-to-be alums in Class Gift to our Golden Terriers from the Class of 1975. There is no limit to what we can accomplish when our alumni rally their networks to support scholarships, research, clubs and orgs, athletics, and academics.”

It was a chilly but sunny day, and Terriers on campus enjoyed Giving Day activities, among them a photo booth and a prize wheel and a chance to meet BU President Melissa Gilliam at the GSU. The University’s two favorite canines, longtime (but ageless) mascot Rhett and Bean, BUPD’s community resource dog, also made appearances, encouraging potential donors to give. And clubs and organizations hosted tables to increase the impact of donors’ generosity, talking to donors about how their gifts would be used.

Beau Williams (CAS’26) represented the Undergraduate Philosophy Association, which hosts guest lecturers and takes field trips, at the GSU. “This year we went to the Renaissance Festival and visited Walden Pond,” Williams says. “Giving Day is our primary source of funding and allows us to have these experiences.” 

All day, social media lit up with posts from enthusiastic advocates and donors, and Terriers around campus sported “I donated!” stickers.

For Reddy, the biggest standout this year was the BU community’s passion: “People wanted to do whatever they could to help higher education. I was blown away by the enthusiasm students had in raising support for their groups,” she says. “My entire LinkedIn feed was updates from BU colleagues and friends, encouraging their networks to give. And I heard from more than one alum that this day made them remember exactly what it felt like to be on campus. 

“No matter who you are and how you’re connected to BU, there is something to care about on Giving Day.”

All gifts made from midnight EDT to midnight PDT on Wednesday, April 9, count toward the Giving Day total. However, it’s never too late to support Boston University by making a gift at give.bu.edu/giving-day.

Sarah Leithner (MET’25) is BU Development & Alumni Relations executive assistant for alumni engagement. She can be reached at smleit@bu.edu.