Every Gift Counts

This Giving Tuesday, November 27, Tufts is issuing a new challenge—8,000 gifts in twenty-four hours.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Tufts has participated in the annual global day of philanthropy, which takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. All donations made to Tufts on November 27 count toward the #TuftsGivingTuesday goal of 8,000 gifts.

For the fifth year in a row, a number of Tufts alumni, parents, and friends have also come forward to challenge the Tufts community. This year, there are more than forty challenges happening across the university with the possibility to unlock hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of the day.

“For several years, #GivingTuesday has provided a special opportunity for the Tufts community to come together on one day with one focused goal—help boost greater community awareness and engagement,” wrote Ken Rosh, A85, and Merideth Schlesinger, challenge donors whose two children attend Tufts. Rosh is also a member of the School of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors. “The more people participate—in any way they can—the more the university thrives.”

Challenge donor Tejas Mehta, M92, A19P, feels the same. “We really encourage everyone to participate. Gifts don’t need to be large. Every little bit counts,” she said. “This is really the giving season, and with the many challenge gifts on deck at Tufts this year, this is the time to make a gift.”

Each year Tufts has set a higher goal, and each year it has not just met, but exceeded its goal. In 2017, a record-breaking 7,528 gifts were made from alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends on Giving Tuesday, totaling $2.2 million. This far exceeded the university’s goal of 5,000 gifts.

Many Giving Tuesday gifts will go toward financial aid and enhancing the student experience, including bolstering student groups that are essential to campus life. “Thanks to #TuftsGivingTuesday, the Daily can continue to provide the Tufts community with thoughtful and timely reporting on a wide range of issues,” wrote Seohyun Shim, A20, editor-in-chief of the Tufts Daily, which will benefit from donors supporting them on Giving Tuesday.

Past years have shown that the success of Giving Tuesday hinges on social media marketing and word-of-mouth promotion by as many people as possible. The more people who spread the word to their networks by forwarding emails, posting their own reasons for supporting Tufts, and tagging posts with #TuftsGivingTuesday, the more successful the campaign will be. Reunion volunteer, Nicholas Woolf, A14, wrote, “With my fifth reunion fast approaching, I’m especially excited for this year’s #TuftsGivingTuesday and to reconnect with classmates. A gift of any amount helps to both support our reunion as well as unlock other #GivingTuesday challenges.”

To support that, Tufts is working with hundreds of volunteers in advance of November 27 and will send out email blasts and social media posts day-of. Those interested in learning more can see all the challenges for the day at the #TuftsGivingTuesday website and can also visit the online volunteer toolkit, which has sample emails, posts and social media imagery all readily available. On Giving Tuesday itself, the site will have a constantly updated gift count and donor wall, and an independent page for each school. Every school has a challenge unique to them in addition to athletics, which has a number of program-based incentives and friendly competition amongst the teams.

“Our family has a deep and long-standing relationship with Tufts,” wrote Rosh and Schlesinger. “We have been very pleased and honored to have been able to participate as donors, and we hope others are inspired, as we have been, to invest in Tufts. Go Jumbos!”

Tufts is grateful to the following #TuftsGivingTuesday challenge donors:

Board of Trustees

Anonymous (3)

Carole E. Allen, M.D., MBA, M71

Brad & Cynthia Aron, A85, A22P & A22P

Elaine Arthur

Laurence S. Bailen, M.D., M93

Betsy Busch, M.D., M75

Carol Daynard, D09

Lori Feldman, J91, V95

Nathalie Giauque & Nicolas Giauque, J92

Jarred Goldberg & Michelle Goldberg, A91, A21P & A21P

Peter Gray & Denise Gray, A90, E20P & E89, E20P

Thomas R. Hedges III, M.D., M75

Sam W. Ho, M.D., M76

Ed Gerstein

Martin & Linda Haspel

Charles & Sharon Karp, A94P

Robert D. Kennison, M.D., M60

Jon Levy, E83

Lili & Jay Lou, E19P

David McGrath, V86, AG83

Tejas S. Mehta, M.D., M92, A19P

Richard Miller, D03

Carol & Ben Monderer, A21P

Stacey Morse, E77

Aviva S. Must, Ph.D., N87, NG92, J01P, A03P

Bruce M. Pastor, M.D., M68, J95P

Leslie Puth, F11

Mark Pollak & Janet Meyers, A75, A16P, A19P & A16P, A19P

Stephen Ricci & Geraldine Ricci, E67, E88P & E88P

David S. Rosenthal, M.D., M63, J87P, AG88P

Kenneth Rosh & Merideth Schlesinger, A85, A19P, A21P & A19P, A21P

The Rumsey Family

Hannah Targoff Saujet & Thomas Saujet, J98 & A96

Gregory J. Sieczkiewicz, Ph.D., J.D., SK00

Monica Smith, F13

Louis A. Tramontozzi III, M.D., M07

Justin Wyner & Genevieve Wyner, A46

Mariann Youniss & Andy Youniss, J83

Van Zissi & Barbara Zissi, D62, DG67, A02P & A02P