UTSA Giving Day unites Roadrunners and exceeds expectations with $573K in gifts

APRIL 7, 2023 — For 1,969 minutes on April 4 and 5, the Roadrunner community united for the third annual UTSA Giving Day. The results exceeded expectations in a number of areas, thanks to participation from students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community.

While final results will be tallied soon, early numbers show more than $573,670 was raised from more than 2,968 donors.

It is expected that once all offline gifts are added, the goal of 3,000 donors will be reached.

Now in its third year, UTSA Giving Day has raised nearly $1.5 million for UTSA students and programs since its debut.

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“UTSA Giving Day is a true team effort, and together, your collective giving makes an immediate and significant difference for our university.”

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This year’s gifts supported more than 50 programs across the university, including colleges, schools, student activities, athletics, the UTSA Libraries and Museums, UTSA Alumni Association scholarships and much more.

“I’m deeply grateful for the outpouring of support that will directly impact UTSA’s colleges, programs and initiatives to advance our trajectory towards becoming a model public research university,” said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. “UTSA Giving Day is a true team effort, and together, your collective giving makes an immediate and significant difference for our university."

Throughout the 32 hour-plus event, more than 40 giving challenges and matching opportunities enhanced the impact of individual donations.

Two such challenges for the College of Sciences were offered by Craig Jordan, former senior associate dean and senior lecturer in the college, and his wife Arcie, who matched $25,000 in donations and committed another $25,000 when 100 donors participated.

The Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design received $25,000 from the Klesses to match $25,000 from other donors. An anonymous friend provided $25,000 to the Alvarez College of Business when its reached the 200 donor mark.

Of the many campus organizations that benefited from support on UTSA Giving Day, the Spirit of San Antonio Marching Band attracted the most donors with 489, unlocking a $5,000 challenge sponsored by alumna April Ancira ’03. UTSA Athletics earned $5,000 for raising the most dollars, a challenge sponsored by longtime university supporters Jan Puckett and John Richardson.

Gifts on the UTSA Giving Day website, from $1 up to $10,000, helped ensure success. Faculty and staff responded generously to two matching gift opportunities totaling $8,000. A full list of results as well as the challenges and their donors are available on the UTSA Giving Day website.

Social media ambassadors were key to raising awareness for UTSA Giving Day. There were 210 people who signed up to be influencers through their social media networks to drive donations. Ambassadors helped UTSA meet its goal to attract a donor from each of the 50 states and raised almost $92,000 overall.

“When all is said and done, I feel confident that we met the goal of 3,000 donors and new records were set this year, thanks especially to the thousands of donors who supported UTSA Giving Day,” said Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement Karl Miller-Lugo. “The impact of this support will be felt by students, faculty, staff and our community partners all year. UTSA Giving Day was a total success.”

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For Miller-Lugo, though, the success went beyond the final totals.

“UTSA Giving Day is about much more than just the dollars raised,” he said. “The greatest success was the engagement it created internally and externally and the positive comments UTSA received throughout the event from all 50 states and internationally. People are proud to support UTSA.”

— Heather Green

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