Joseph Abrams ’23

Chief News Editor

Holy Cross, as an institution, thrives on the love and excitement students and alumni have for it. A lot of this adoration takes the form of donations– the gifts of current and former students are often allocated to school resources, new buildings, and opportunities for low income students. This generosity was out in full force this week as Holy Cross participated in Giving Tuesday, an opportunity to give back to the communities that we are most thankful for. 

Giving Tuesday was launched in 2012 as a way to prioritize and encourage grassroots approaches to giving back. The movement is active in every single country on this planet every Nov. 29, but only spans that 24 hour period. Despite that, an estimated $2.7 billion was donated just in the U.S. last year on Giving Tuesday, which is about the same size as the GDP of Aruba. For Holy Cross, 2021’s Giving Tuesday carried that same energy with over $150,000 in donations within that 24 hours. 

This year shaped up to be a good one too, with 998 donors donating more than $130,000. Holy Cross reminds its community that financial contributions support Holy Cross’ Jesuit mission and enhance opportunities for the community– donations can be allocated for certain on-campus causes too. Over 50% of those donations have come from alumni, with parents making up 19% of the donations as the second biggest donor group. As it stands, alumni have donated over $70,000 dollars in just 24 hours, and parents, who are likely still paying for tuition, have amassed more than $30,000. All of it is largely funneling from the Northeast, too. Massachusetts contains the most amount of this year’s donors by a longshot with 354 donors. New York, the second biggest donor population, comes in at 167 donors, and Connecticut, Florida, and California round out the top five. Donations came in from some states you probably didn’t think they would too, like the two different donations from Wyoming. Surprisingly, the number of donations from Iowa and Nebraska are tied with those from our northern neighbors in Vermont. 

Only 4% of this year’s donations have come from the current student body, but past class years are pulling out all the stops. The class of ’94 has the most donors with $6,154 coming from 41 different donations. The class of ’82 comes in with the most financial weight, however, with just ten donors donating a whopping $12,425. Shout out to the recent grads in the class of ’22, though, who have donated $240 already despite being gone for only six months.

Even those who are not able to donate could get a piece of the action as well by sharing the fundraiser with their own networks. By generating traffic to the site and encouraging donations, those who shared the fundraiser are also treated to a number of different prizes. Just generating one donation got donors a thank you note from a current Holy Cross student, and generating five guaranteed a chance for a Holy Cross swag bag. Those who’ve generated 15 donations received a $25 gift card to the Holy Cross bookstore, and generating a whopping thirty gifts was incentivized by a Holy Cross fleece blanket. 

Giving Tuesday isn’t the only opportunity for giving back, though. Two different fundraisers– the Senior Class Gift and Athletic Fund— are still ongoing. Seniors who are thankful of their (almost) four years here can make a donation of any size to the Senior Gift fund, which will be used to enrich the experiences of the next generation of students. For those of you who bleed purple, the Crusader Athletics Fund is a great way to give back.

Image by GiveCampus