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Syracuse University’s fifth annual “Boost the ’Cuse” day-long fundraising campaign raised more than $1.28 million on Oct. 7, a 42% increase compared to last year. 

SU received donations from 5,109 donors from 49 states and 12 countries across the globe this year, which surpassed the university’s initial goal of 5,000 donors, according to an SU News release.

The top five groups of donors in terms of most donations made were from the Classes of 2022, 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2021, respectively. A member of the Class of 2022 was the campaign’s top influencer on social media. 

The Annual Fund, the General Supported Scholarship Fund, the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications’ Dean’s Fund, the College of Law Annual Fund and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management’s Dean’s Fund amassed the highest number of donors, according to the release. 

The fundraiser included a series of challenges that unlocked donations from the school or other donors once they were reached. Some of these challenges were based on where donors live (like the “NYC Tri-State Challenge”) or their degree (like the “Arts & Sciences Challenge”) while others were unrelated.

The “2,022 Challenge” was met after 2,022 people donated. In honor of the Class of 2022 for their resilience, Kathy Walters, chairperson of SU’s Board of Trustees and a SU alumnus, made a $25,000 donation, the release said. 

The “Student Organization Challenge,” supported by Hendricks Chapel, will award $5,000 to each of the 10 organizations that were mentioned the most on the giving forms, the release said. The organizations include:

• Athletics Bands (Syracuse University Marching Band and the Sour Sitrus Society)
• Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
• Syracuse Hillel
• OrangeSeeds
• CitrusTV
• SU DanceWorks
• WeMedia Lab
• Student Association
• First Year Players
• University Union

“Boost the ’Cuse” raised more than $2.5 million from 6,210 donors in a 44-hour campaign in 2019. SU also held a dozen events across the country that year. Locations included New York City, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta and Long Island.

In 2020, SU shortened the campaign to 24 hours and received $903,260 from 3,514 donors. Due to the pandemic, SU ran the campaign completely online instead of holding on-campus events and activities. 

Published on October 15, 2021 at 1:47 pm

Contact Francis: btang05@syr.edu | @francis_towne