Celebrate Purdue Day of Giving with ‘Giant Leaps’ on Wednesday (April 24)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The sixth annual Purdue Day of Giving is celebrating “150 Years of Giant Leaps” on Wednesday (April 24), with more participating units, student organizations and challenges for bonus dollars during the 24-hour online, social media-driven fundraising effort to grant opportunities for the university and its students.

This is the first year that Purdue Day of Giving has systemwide participation through the West Lafayette, Fort Wayne and Purdue Northwest campuses. Purdue Global, the online university tailored for working adults, also is participating for the first time.

There are 72 units participating this year, up from 66 in 2018, and 210 student organizations, an increase over last year’s 156 participants. More hourly and full-day challenges will allow donors to help their favorite participants (campus, college, school, program or student organization) climb the donation and participation leaderboards for additional bonus funds. For more information and to view the full list of challenges on April 24, visit dayofgiving.purdue.edu/leaderboards.

In addition, to celebrate Purdue’s sesquicentennial, this year’s event features Goosechase, a smartphone technology scavenger hunt platform that organizers have used to map out 150 missions. While Goosechase is primarily targeted toward student engagement, faculty, staff and community members also can participate. These experiences include:

• Hammer Down cancer by smashing a car with a hammer.
• Beat the Purdue Big Bass Drum (the world’s largest).
• Sample torched doughnuts from Gastro Garage.
• Get a 3D-printed Purdue Pete keychain at the Bechtel Innovation Design Center.
• Get your selfie printed on a cookie at the cookie station on Memorial Mall.

To view more Goosechase missions, download the Goosechase app on your smartphone device and search for "Purdue Day of Giving 2019." For more information, contact Kelsey D. Bush, assistant director of special events for the University Development Office, at kdbush@prf.org or 765-494-0576.

In 2018, Purdue set the collegiate record for single-day fundraising with $37.6 million in donations, surpassing its own record-setting performance of $28.2 million in 2017. Last year’s online event marked the fourth consecutive year that Purdue has raised the most dollars for higher education in a 24-hour time span. At 18,663 donations, last year’s event also set a Purdue record for the number of gifts received in a single day. Donations came in from 58 countries—a new Purdue record—and all 50 states. All told, Purdue Day of Giving has raised $105.3 million since it launched in 2014.

To donate on Purdue Day of Giving, visit DayofGiving.Purdue.edu or call 800-319-2199 (toll-free) on April 24. 

Contact: Grant Flora, 765-494-7566, gflora@purdue.edu