Fort Lewis College saw a hefty increase in donations during its annual GivingTuesday fundraiser in November.
The college rallied 582 donors during the 24-hour event, accumulating $622,122 in financial support. This was a 23% increase from the college’s takeaway from last year’s Giving Day, which brought in $484,698.
GivingTuesday is held each year the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
This year’s top priorities included the Sports Performance Center, the Nursing Collaborative and General Student Scholarships, said Melissa Mount, vice president of Advancement at FLC and CEO of the FLC Foundation.
“We are humbled by the support of our community and so thankful to our donors who reached out to family and friends to support causes they feel strongly about,” Mount said last week. “We’re particularly excited about the number of FLC staff and faculty who supported causes they care about at FLC and our increase in the number of donors that met the challenge to unlock the generous gift for our sports center.”
The Sports Performance Center is said to be a state-of-the-art facility providing innovative performance, rehabilitation, nutrition and wellness programs. It will be made available to all of FLC’s student-athletes.
The goal is to create more student-centered pathways, alleviating capacity issues at the current Student Life Center and increase athletic recruiting and retention of student-athletes, according to the college.
“We’ve been very strategic in getting our message out there and deepening our relationships with our alumni and current donors. We’ve also intentionally expanded our donor network and are focused on making intentional asks and cultivating relationships in Durango and beyond,” Mount said.
The FLC Foundation Board sought to expand its financial support for the college, according to Mount.
“ … GivingTuesday was a perfect example of collaborative fundraising and collaborative impact,” she said. “Our mission and our students are worthy of big philanthropy and advocacy – we are proud to be doing this important work.”
FLC joined the GivingTuesday campaign in 2019 and has consistently engaged several hundred donors and donations since.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
