Thanks to generous donors, Liberty celebrates best Giving Day total ever

Giving Day 2024 on Oct. 16 was marked by the largest amount of donations in the history of the 24-hour event — $5,659,806 from 6,976 gifts — due to an overwhelming outflow of generosity and support throughout the Liberty University community of alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends.

Giving Day brings together friends of Liberty on campus, in Lynchburg, and throughout the world to make an impact on Champions for Christ by donating any amount directly to the campaigns of their choice, from academic departments to athletic programs, scholarship funds, ministry, and helping those in need. (View a full list of campaigns.)

Five academic departments were named winners of the Dean’s Excellence Challenge for receiving the highest donations on Giving Day: College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM), School of Music, School of Law, School of Communication and the Arts, and College of Arts and Sciences. An anonymous donor funded the challenge, with winners receiving a portion of the $21,000 gift. The Rise With Us Challenge allocated $27,500 among the top-earning athletics campaigns: cheerleading, women’s lacrosse, football, softball, and track & field/cross country.

Those who registered to be a Giving Day Ambassador had the opportunity to unlock prizes as their friends, family, and others donated through their personalized link. At the top of the Ambassador Leaderboard are Liberty Softball Head Coach Dot Richardson, freshman women’s lacrosse player Kendall Coss, and sophomore triathlete Molly Ramberg. (View the full leaderboard.)

Various special fundraising challenges on Giving Day allowed programs to earn extra $250 prize money by posting to social media. The College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Excellence Fund created the best promo video, the triathlon team sent in the best photo of a pet wearing Liberty apparel, and the taekwondo team took the best photo on Giving Day at the Freedom Tower.

“I’d like to thank the LU family and the entire Development team for making Giving Day 2024 such an incredible day of generosity,” Executive Vice President of Development Brian Mentzer said.

For more opportunities to partner with Liberty University in its mission, visit Liberty.edu/Giving.

Best promo video

 

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A post shared by LU History Department (@historylu)

Best photo of a pet wearing Liberty apparel

 

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A post shared by Liberty University Triathlon (@libertytriathlon)

Best photo on Giving Day at the Freedom Tower

 

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A post shared by Liberty Taekwondo (@lutaekwondo)