The University of Idaho Vandal Challenge campaign pushed UI past 12,000 total fiscal-year donors during its two-month run from April 30 to June 30, according to Annual Giving Director Mandy Hanousek.
The campaign was part of the larger Inspiring Futures: Invest in the University of Idaho initiative, which introduced its public phase April 28.
Hanousek said the Vandal Challenge campaign utilized print, e-mail and video to kick off the public phase of Inspiring Futures and attract first-time donations. The effort gathered 286 new donors and more than 1,100 first-time gifts from current donors.
Hanousek said the seven-and-a-half-year-long umbrella campaign Inspiring Futures aims to raise $225 million by its completion in December 2014.
“I get excited about how many donors we have because every dollar counts,” she said. “The $25 donor is just as important to me as the $2 million donor.”
Richard and Sharon Allen, Inspiring Futures co-chairs and fellow UI donors and alumni, said they are grateful for all the effort people put into the Vandal Challenge campaign.
“The Vandal Challenge is a terrific way for our current students to initiate contact with Idaho alumni in order to say thanks for past support, ask for continued support and to develop new donors,” Richard Allen said. “Their results over the past couple of years have been very impressive and we thank them.”
Matt Maw can be reached at [email protected]