Get confetti ready
Give 4 Garnet set for April 10
Posted on: April 3, 2019; Updated on: April 3, 2019
By Diane Parham, parhamdv@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-7547
There’s still plenty of confetti on hand for year two of Give 4 Garnet: A Day of Giving, set for Wednesday (April 10). But this year’s giving day is putting the spotlight on donors instead of dollars, with a goal of 6,500 donors making gifts during the daylong campaign.
The University of South Carolina’s Give 4 Garnet also will feature a special initiative dedicated to retiring President Harris Pastides. Among the 22 different Give 4 Garnet options for donor support is one that will pay tribute to Pastides’ longtime leadership by naming the university Alumni Center in his honor. An anonymous donor has agreed to match up to $1 million in donations to this campaign.
Give 4 Garnet’s online giving campaign begins at 5:59 a.m. and ends at midnight on Wednesday. The event’s confetti theme and tagline, “Every little piece makes a big impact,” showcase the collective power of thousands of South Carolina alumni, parents, students, faculty and staff members to expand opportunities at the university.
In its first year, Give 4 Garnet drew more than 4,200 donors from across the globe, with an average online gift of $126, raising more than $3.7 million for an array of university programs. Promoted largely on social media, the systemwide event garnered more than 17 million social media impressions.
“Last year, we were thrilled to see how those gifts turned ideas into realities — like our new Social Media Insights Lab at the College of Information and Communications,” said Jancy Houck, South Carolina vice president for development. “We look forward to even more participation this year."
More than $200,000 was raised to outfit the College of Information and Communication’s new social media monitoring and analytics classroom and research lab during Give 4 Garnet last year. The cutting-edge space will serve as the hub of social media activity for this year’s giving day.
Give 4 Garnet campaigns for the university’s schools, colleges and programs seek donors for a variety of needs, including student scholarships, career-building internships, research opportunities and special learning initiatives, as well as university projects that meet needs in the community and state. Details of each are on the Give 4 Garnet website, where donors can direct gifts to the programs that mean the most to them.
The giving day time span of 18 hours and one minute is a reference to South Carolina’s founding in 1801.
Last year, we were thrilled to see how those gifts turned ideas into realities—like our new Social Media Insights Lab at the College of Information and Communications.
Jancy Houck, vice president for development
On campus, Give 4 Garnet will feature activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of Russell House University Union on Greene Street. Attractions will include a life-size confetti globe for selfies, games, food, giveaway items and opportunities for photos with university celebrities, including this year’s Give 4 Garnet co-chairs, South Carolina director of player development Marcus Lattimore and Nephron Pharmaceuticals CEO Lou Kennedy. Gamecock Pantry and Carolina Closet will be accepting donations of canned goods and clothing.
Follow the Give 4 Garnet conversation on social media at #Give4Garnet.
Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about