Community | Featured | Giving | NewsApril 26, 2024

Record Breaking Day of Giving for UAFS

Written By: Rachel Putman

The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith officially concluded its Day of Giving 2024 at 3:08 p.m., Friday April 26, marking a tremendous success in this year's fundraising efforts. With preliminary counts already indicating that the university has raised an impressive $142,000 through 1,110 donations, the UAFS community has shown overwhelming support for its students and programs.

Jasmine Smith, director of alumni and annual giving, expressed deep gratitude for the community's involvement: "Your generosity has not only shown our students the power of their networks but has also laid a strong foundation for their futures. I love this university, and I was so proud to watch nearly a thousand people invest in our students today."

Spanning 1,928 minutes in honor of the university's founding year, the university’s 2024 Day of Giving supported 18 project teams with a wide range of initiatives, including scholarships, student support services, and educational programs.

Highlights included matching gifts and 'Power Hours,' where donations from corporate sponsors and university leaders effectively doubled the impact of gifts, and a half birthday party, half pep rally, for Numa, the university’s mascot.

The Finish scholarship earned the highest total at $10,445 – more than five times above their $2,000 goal. The two projects with the highest donor counts were the First Generation Student initiative with 186 donors, and the Hispanic Heritage initiative with 105 donors.

New for the year, a “You Choose” option allowed individuals to write in their support for any area of campus life. The You Choose category generated more than $54,000 in gifts. 

This year's overall total of dramatically exceeds the initial goal of $100,000, demonstrating the strength and commitment of the UAFS community.

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2024 Projects:  

• Adult Degree Completion Program Scholarship Fund
• AIGA UAFS Student Group for Design
• Annual Student Research Paper Competition “Recentering the Past: Honoring the Land and Its People”
• Area of Greatest Need
• Baseball
• Cheer
• Embracing Hispanic Heritage
• Employee Emergency Fund
• Finish Scholarship
• First Gen Student Success
• General Scholarship Fund
• Men of Excellence
• Read This!
• ROTC
• School of Education Partnership Professional Development
• Student Nurses Association Fee-Free Initiative
• Study Abroad Scholarship
• Volleyball
• You Choose

UAFS Day of Giving Power Hours

• 9:00 a.m. - Chambers Bank Power Hour: Donations to the General Scholarship Fund will be matched up to $1,000.
• 2:00 p.m. - Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Fort Smith Power Hour: Donations to the Finish Scholarship will be matched up to $1,000.

Matching Gift Opportunities

• AT&T: Matching up to $2,500 for the Finish Scholarship.
• Anonymous Donor: Matching up to $5,000 for the Finish Scholarship.
• Jim Miller: Matching up to $1,000 for the Study Abroad Scholarship.
• Jennifer King, Chief of Staff at UAFS: Matching up to $500 for the Study Abroad Scholarship.
• Carey Tucker, VC for Finance and Administration at UAFS: Matching up to $500 for ROTC.
• Kendall Ross, Executive Director of the Center for Economic Development: Matching up to $500 for the Adult Degree Completion Program.
• Chris Kelly, AVC - Marketing: Matching up to $500 for the Student Nurses Association.
• Blake Rickman, VC for Advancement: Matching up to $500 for First Generation College Students.
• Dr. Terisa Riley, Chancellor of UAFS: Matching every dollar given to the Employee Emergency Fund with an additional dollar of discretionary funding, up to $500.
• Dr. Shadow Robinson, UAFS Provost: Matching up to $500 for the Center for Teaching & Learning

Final results will be added to this story after final tabulation.

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• Day of Giving