PROVIDENCE – In Providence College’s major quest to raise money that will help propel the college to the next level, its signature single-day fundraising program raised the bar once again this year.
"Friars Give" on Thursday saw close to $3.3 million donated to the college from 3,261 individual donors over the 24-hour giving period, both new records during the Dominican Friars college’s annual single-day fundraising initiative. That amount surpassed last year’s
record of $3.2 million on Friars Give day.
PC Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement Greg Waldron told Providence Business News on Friday the success of this year’s Friars Give at PC on Thursday comes as the college has since embarked on a record-setting fundraising push to support PC’s overall operations and mission. PC launched back in October its
$300 million “Beyond Limits: The Campaign for Providence College” campaign, the largest fundraising program in PC’s 108-year history, to raise substantial funds for the school through 2028.
Waldron said for PC to sustain that major fundraising momentum at the college by raising the bar during Friars Give once again is a “testament” to the maturity of its philanthropic efforts. He also said Friars Give also gives PC’s alumni to rally behind the school and help support the comprehensive campaign.
“Friars Give is an opportunity to generate that excitement and maintaining that momentum over the next three years, plus it’s all about what these funds are going to do,” Waldron said. “It’s not so much how we raise. It’s rather what are we raising the money for.”
Additionally, this was the fifth consecutive Friars Give initiative that raised more than $2 million for PC – and second straight year exceeding $3 million. Since the Friars Give initiative launched in 2016, nearly $19 million has been contributed to PC from more than 26,000 donors.
According to the Friars Give online portal, 72% of the donors were from either PC alumni or parents of students. The Fund for Providence College, used immediately to support the student experience and are directed to where they are most urgently needed, received the most donations at $790,117.
There was also a separate $200,000 match given to the Fund for Providence College, according to the portal. Additionally, multiple past PC alumni classes offered matching gifts that ranged from $10,000 to $100,000. The St. Dominic Society also provided a $150,000 match during Friars Give day, as well.
Also part of Friars Give was Steven Napolillo, the college’s vice president and director of athletics, holding the Director of Athletics' Giving Challenge to maximize donation impacts on sports teams. The top three athletic programs with the highest alumni participation rate during Friars Give would unlock $30,000 in additional support.
The college's women's volleyball program received $15,000 from the challenge, PC officials said. The field hockey team got $10,000 in additional funds and the men's soccer team got $5,000.
Moving forward, Waldron said PC’s ongoing fundraising push aims to expand academics, elevating student experience and making sure an education at the college is “within financial reach” for all students. It will also help the college chart “challenging waters” some colleges are facing, such as declining demographics and negative public perceptions of higher education, with “prudence and … a faith to get past” these challenges, Waldron said.
“There are a lot of headwinds a lot of higher education institutions are facing,” he said, “and Providence College is bucking it. You can see it through Friars Give.”
(UPDATED 10th paragraph to include information from Providence College's Director of Athletics' Giving Challenge during Friars Give day.)
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 X at @James_Bessette.
