About The Day Of Giving

All gifts made during Wabash’s 10th Day of Giving will count toward our Lead Challenge goal. Wabash stands to receive $510,000 for students and their life-changing education from a group of leaders when alumni and friends make 5,010 gifts in a single day.

In addition to automatically counting toward the Lead Challenge, each gift can also contribute toward an Affinity Challenge. These challenges are when individuals and groups put their own personal philanthropy on the line to inspire other members from the Wabash community to support the Day of Giving. You can select one Affinity Challenge per gift using the dropdown menu while on the Day’s giving form.

On our 10th Day of Giving, we are asking the Wabash Nation to strive together to reach historic benchmarks and to celebrate #AlwaysWabash.

As we make gifts, we will ensure that the Wabash we love will always endure for generations of students to come. We will strengthen Wabash’s time-honored mission and ensure that our commitment to a liberal-arts education, respect for and practice of the Gentleman’s Rule, and devotion to each other remain always Wabash. We will show the world the life-changing difference Wabash has had on our lives then, now, and always – #AlwaysWabash.

Our Days of Giving have become something greater than a single-day fundraiser. They’ve become inherent to what makes Wabash, Wabash. They’ve given us shared slogans that have become part of our vocabulary, enhanced Wabash’s national reputation while trending on social media, and become a tangible way for alumni and friends to enhance our culture of philanthropy and celebrate the College that has given us all so much.

This year for our 10th Day of Giving, we will strive to take Giant Steps together to reach historic benchmarks. The past nine Days of Giving have cumulatively raised $8,659,327 in direct support of Wabash students, meaning that this year we’re poised to surpass $10 million total on the 10th Day of Giving.

As a way to celebrate this rich history, we’ve created the Then and Now page at wabash.edu/always/then-and-now. On this section of the site, you can revisit the success of prior Days, view all-time leaderboards, and see the collective impact we’ve made over the years.

The 10th Day of Giving is primarily an online campaign (wabash.edu/always). However, the College will count gifts received via postal mail before or after the day with 4.19, Day of Giving, or “Always Wabash” noted with the gift or on a memo line. The College will also count gifts that donors pledge to make through Donor Advised Funds or via appreciated securities.

Alumni and friends can let the College know they are making these gifts by sending an email to always@wabash.edu or by calling 877-743-4545 on or in advance of 4.19. These gifts will be included in the totals on the day, but individual donor names may not appear on the real-time list of donors until after the gift has arrived.

Gifts on the 10th Day of Giving will be allocated to the Annual Fund unless otherwise noted in the comments section on the giving form. Gifts using Athletics challenge codes will be allocated to the Athletic Director’s Fund unless otherwise noted.

Yes, many companies offer programs that will match contributions to Wabash. Your 10th Day of Giving support to the Annual Fund will meet most matching requirements and can double your impact on Wabash students. Companies will often match gifts by spouses, parents, retirees, or partners. Contact your human resources office or visit www.wabash.edu/matching to find out if your employer has a matching gift program.

An affinity challenge is a pledge made by an individual or group that “challenges” others with whom they are associated to make a gift on 4.19. If the challenge terms are met, they will give an additional gift. For example:

Bob Donor was a member of the Pep Band while at Wabash in the 1990s. Because he is so fond of his memories of performing at sporting events — and believes other members will share this sentiment — Bob Donor will give $1,000 when 100 gifts are made on our 10th Day of Giving using the code PepBand.

Affinity challenges can represent any group of the Wabash community. You can lead one for a class, living unit/fraternity, a group of spouses or partners, metropolitan area, field of study, sports team, student club, scholarship fund, memorial fund, in honor of a professor/coach/student, the list goes on and on.

Complete the fields on the online form at wabash.edu/always/add-challenge. After completing it, we will review the details and will contact you about its approval. Once it is active, your challenge will be listed in an Affinity Challenge table on the main wabash.edu/always page. Also, the challenge code will appear on the giving form dropdown menu. Throughout #AlwaysWabash, spread the word via your social media contacts, email, and by phone, and let everyone you know that your challenge is on!

Affinity Challenges that request gifts be allocated to a restricted designation (non- Annual Fund) will be part of a review process by either the Dean for College Advancement, the Dean of the College, or the Director of Athletics. It is recommended these are submitted as soon as possible for review and approval.

Send us an email at always@wabash.edu and tell us who you would like to contact. We’ll send you a list of your classmates, teammates, and other Wabash connections to reach out to and help promote our 10th Day of Giving.

The 10th Day of Giving is a great way to demonstrate your Wabash pride and your belief in our time-honored mission. If you have given this year, thank you! Making another gift on 4.19 will count toward the gifts made on the day and will help the College receive $510,000 from a group of challenge donors if we reach 5,010 gifts in a single day. In addition, we have the chance to make history by surpassing over $10 million raised over 10 Days of Giving.