On April 3, 2018, the College embarked on its second ever Giving Day, a day to celebrate the philanthropy of the College’s supporters while inspiring a wave of new gifts to benefit the College for years to come. From the start, the College rang true with the mantra “One Day, One Pack, One Goal” — and thanks to the generosity of the C of I community, the College succeeded in raising over $114,000 in just 24 hours.
The College gathered 396 individual gifts on Giving Day benefiting a number of worthwhile causes around campus, bolstered by pledges of matching grants by a number of individuals and organizations that would effectively allow donors to double their individual contributions.
The YoteFam came together to completely unlock four of those pledges, including a $30,000 match from the Crookham Company to benefit the General Scholarship Fund, a $5,000 match for the Frank Blood Memorial Scholarship, a $5,000 match provided by soccer alumnus Scott Hurter ’87 to benefit the men’s soccer team, and a $5,000 match to go toward the restoration of the organ in Jewett Auditorium. An additional $2,830 was matched for the Sigma Chi Endowed Scholarship, provided by Sigma Chi alumni Solon Carlson ’00, Bill Hirai ’91, Paul Vinci ’91 and a generous anonymous donor.
Throughout the day, every gift was tracked in real time at yotesgive.collegeofidaho.edu, including a leaderboard for how much money was raised by specific class graduation years. The class of 1966 ultimately came out on top of the leaderboard, raising $4,300 altogether, followed by the classes of 2004 and 1994 to round out the top three.
But the fun wasn’t just held online. The on-campus community also took the time to celebrate Giving Day in the Quad, enjoying free pizza and donuts and writing “thank you” notes for donors.
Pizzas weren’t the only pies on the Quad that day, either, as three people took pies to the face as part of the Giving Day fun. History Professor Steve Maughan and Vice President of Academic Affairs David Douglass each honored their pledge to take pies to the face after 25 and 50 gifts respectively came in from staff and faculty members, while current Associated Students of the College of Idaho President Amanda DiDio also volunteered to take a pie to the face — a specifically requested key lime flavored pie — after enough individual gifts to Senior Legacy.
Overall, the nearly 400 gifts given to the College surpassed the set goal of 350 individual gifts — all gifts that will leave a positive impact on the College. Thank you all for your generosity, #YoteFam!
The College of Idaho has a 127-year-old legacy of excellence. The C of I is known for its outstanding academic programs, winning athletics tradition and history of producing successful graduates, including seven Rhodes Scholars, three governors, four NFL players and countless business leaders and innovators. Its distinctive PEAK Curriculum challenges students to attain competency in the four knowledge peaks of humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field—empowering them to earn a major and three minors in four years. The College’s close-knit, residential campus is located in Caldwell, where its proximity both to Boise and to the world-class outdoor activities of southwest Idaho’s mountains and rivers offers unique opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. For more information, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.