One day, over 6,000 Flyers

On April 6, the University of Dayton community engaged with the spirit of giving during One Day, One Dayton, the University’s annual giving day. While the University continues to finalize totals, the 24-hour campaign engaged 6,231 donors — topping last year’s total of more than 6,000 donors — to raise at least $2.1 million.

On-campus events of the day included a food truck rally, Athletics Field Day with games and activities for students, a farmer’s market and the Rockout at Knockout at the RecPlex, where students played in a giant knockout basketball competition. 

Andrew Moyer ’22, president of the Student Government Association, was involved in 2021’s One Day, One Dayton planning. He said he was excited to see how this year’s event expanded from last year’s.

“The University, and specifically University advancement, has really done a tremendous job of planning a lot of interactions between students, staff [and] community members throughout the day that was really exciting to see grow from last year,” he said.

Moyer said when it comes to putting on successful campus-wide events like One Day, One Dayton, it’s all about the UD community.

“It's all about the people. When you look around on our campus, I think there's just a certain uniqueness to the people here that you don't find other places,” he said.

Last year, One Day, One Dayton’s donor goal was 3,700 donors in 24 hours. That goal was surpassed with more than 5,700 donors and $2.7 million raised. This year, the donor goal was set at 4,000 donors, and the day featured plenty of opportunities for donor matches and challenges.

“One Day, One Dayton is all about donors, not dollars.”

“One Day, One Dayton is all about donors, not dollars,” said Emily Baldwin ’14, associate director of annual giving, student philanthropy and young alumni giving. “It's just really cool to know that we have these people in our corner who care about our students and really just are excited to support them.”

The 4,000 donor goal was reached around 6 p.m. At that time, a surprise unlock challenge was announced with a goal of reaching 5,300 donors by midnight, which was met nearly three hours early at 9:30 p.m., which unlocked a $100,000 gift from two anonymous donors from the Class of 1968.

Students for University Advancement, an on-campus philanthropic student organization, helped University advancement promote an exclusive challenge just for students. Brendan Ochs ’22, president of SUA, said that an anonymous alumni donor from the Class of 2015 gave $15,000 to triple the gifts made by current students.

“I am just excited to be able to make my gift through our organization,” Ochs said. 

During the 24-hour event, SUA had the goal of getting as many student members of the organization to donate. “We had a target of 70% ... and I wanted to be a part of that because it's something special to see all of the behind-the-scenes stuff and then actually make an impact on the day, too.”

Baldwin agreed that the day was an incredible success and said she is thrilled that the University received support to many important areas of the University. 

“We’re a high-touch university, so we offer our students — while they’re here studying and obtaining their degrees — so many opportunities to learn, both in and out of the classroom, and these things wouldn't be possible without that donor support,” Baldwin said.