NIRSA family, YOU DID IT. Not only did you crush the $2,500 match challenge offered by Hughes Group Architects, but 137 of you raised a #GivingTuesday record $10,560 supporting the future of campus rec and the future leaders of our profession. Both are records for this appeal. The members of this profession are so generous and incredible, and we cannot express enough gratitude to you!

Donors surpassed our $9,800 goal on their own. That means with Hughes Group Architects’ match, $13,060 total was raised by our NIRSA family, for our NIRSA family. Thanks to Hughes Group for delivering a match challenge on #GivingTuesday for the third year in a row! We also saw four new Cornerstone Society enrollments, and five preexisting monthly donors increased their recurring gifts. And we’re delighted to report that 28 individuals made their first-ever gifts to the NIRSA Foundation during this appeal!

Many thanks also to everyone who spread the word to their NIRSA networks about this appeal. Thank you for every email, like, share, retweet, repost, comment, and kind word spreading the love of NIRSA and campus recreation.

The #GivingTuesday social media photo contest entries were incredible testimonies to the value of this Association and its members. Max Miller, RCRSP, Assistant Director of Athletics for Recreation & Wellness at Swarthmore College, wins the prize $25 Amazon gift card for his Instagram post, which garnered 110 likes by the end of Wednesday, November 28:

Your #GivingTuesday generosity matches an amazing year of giving to support NIRSA via the NIRSA Foundation.

Because of you, we’re looking forward to awarding more than 105 scholarship, stipend, and award opportunities for NIRSA students and professionals in 2019.

Because of you, we’re looking forward to directing $65,000 to support NIRSA’s research initiatives through to the NIRSA Research Grant Program and campus rec benchmarking (via the Institutional Data Set and Salary Census) in 2019.

Because of you we’re looking forward to supporting more than 100 students through the officials’ development training program in the upcoming NIRSA Championship Series basketball and flag football tournaments.

Because of you, we’re looking forward to making a positive impact on health and wellbeing initiatives that support the NIRSA strategic plan.

And we’re looking forward to seeing you at NIRSA 2019 in Boston so we can thank you in person and you can collect your #GivingTuesday donor ribbon for your name badge!

On behalf of the Association, thank you again.