PROVIDENCE – Last spring, Providence College Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement Greg Waldron previously told Providence Business News he had at the time “tremendous confidence” that the annual Friars Give fundraising initiative would “reach new heights.”
Needless to say, Friartown on Thursday met and exceeded his expectations.
Friars Give on Thursday saw close to $3.2 million donated to the college from 2,504 individual donors over the 24-hour giving period. That amount surpassed
the previous record of $2.8 million raised for PC back in 2022. Last year’s Friars Give day
raised $2.6 million for PC.
After Thursday’s record-setting day, Waldron on Friday told PBN that “the sky’s the limit” regarding fundraising for the college. He says there has always been a “culture of philanthropy” at PC, finding different ways to tap into it and “producing different results.”
“The more we can continue to invite investment in [to support] life-changing experiences, it’s a pretty exciting equation to be in,” Waldron said. “It’s a day where people can be moved … and help inspire others to follow suit.”
Additionally, this was the fourth consecutive “Friars Give” initiative that raised more than $2 million. Since the Friars Give initiative launched in 2016, nearly $15 million has been contributed to PC from more than 23,000 donors. Waldron also said there was about $1 million in matching gifts that were contributed during Friars Give on Thursday.
Waldron said PC employed some new tactics to attract donors to contribute to the college on Friars Give day. He said there was a more coordinated effort to promote the Friars Give brand, highlighted it through media and had new leadership bring creativity to spread the awareness of the day.
One strategy Waldron noted was PC promoted giving a gift in honor of someone to recognize them in their PC journey. “It was a reminder that we get here on the shoulders of others,” he said.
Waldron said there was a heightened focus on The Fund for Providence College, PC’s annual fund. That fund is used immediately to support the student experience and are directed to where they are most urgently needed and “the most flexible dollars” the college can use, Waldron said.
The initiative also included PC Vice President and Director of Athletics Steven Napolillo and his wife, Beth, contributing $100,000 toward the college’s athletic programs during Friars Give. Napolillo in a statement made the contribution in honor of his late father, Bob Napolillo, and
former PC athletic director Robert G. Driscoll Jr., citing them as driving forces for his work leading PC’s sports teams. Waldron said Steve and Beth Napolillo were moved to contribute as individual donors and express their gratitude toward the college, especially Steven Napolillo.
Moving forward, Waldron said PC plans to repeat the effort that saw the college raise $50 million throughout last year, and surpass $3 million funds raised during next year’s Friars Give day. Also, PC is looking to launch this fall a comprehensive campaign, Waldron said, that could result in more record-breaking fundraising efforts at the Dominican Friars college over the next several years.
“We’ll climb the ladder as we continue to raise a lot money for a special place that does very special things,” Waldron said.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
