OKLAHOMA CITY (April 26, 2024) -- Oklahoma City University smashed through its annual TrueBlueOCU Giving Day fundraising record on Thursday night, bringing in nearly half a million dollars from more than 1,200 donors.
The exact numbers – $461,236 raised by 1,210 donors – far surpassed the previous records of 1,064 donors and $315,445 set during last year’s Giving Day.
OCU President Kenneth Evans said the numbers represent a “remarkable achievement” by both those who contributed and those within the Office of University Advancement who helped organize Giving Day.
“I want to extend a gracious thank you to the entire Advancement team; our deans; all alumni, students, faculty or staff who gave or served as Giving Day advocates; and anyone I may have missed who had a hand in this success,” Evans said. “Days like this show that the future is bright at OCU.”
The largest donor group this year was university alumni, who made up more than a quarter of the total number of donors. Other groups included OCU faculty and staff, friends of the university, parents and students.
Donors took part in a number of giving challenges, including the Dean’s Challenge. For this challenge, each of the university’s deans created a portrait of OCU mascot Starsky and donors were asked to align their donation with their favorite portrait.
Dance and Entertainment Dean Melanie Shelley led the way in total challenge donors with 201, while Nursing Dean Gina Crawford’s Starsky portrait garnered the highest dollar amount, with $107,394.
Giving was also aligned with a series of alumni chapters, with gifts designated by chapters in New York, Chicago, Tulsa, Dallas and Los Angeles; and with Greek Life, where Kappa Sigma led the way with $4,500 raised.
In addition, donations came in from more than half of all U.S. states, with gifts from all four corners of the country – Massachusetts, California, Florida and Washington state – being recorded. Outside of Oklahoma (723 donors), Texas was the next-leading state for participation, with 60 donors.
Vice President of University Advancement Koby Harrington expressed his appreciation to donors.
“Giving Day is really all about supporting the university and our students,” Harrington said. “Our donors have made a strong statement that OCU and its students are important to them, and we are all so appreciative of the support.”
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