The University of Wisconsin hosted its fifth annual Day of the Badger event last week, raising a record-breaking $1,785,600 in funds to address campus needs.

The first Day of the Badger began April 8, 2019 and challenged the UW’s alumni, schools, colleges, departments and organizations to fundraise, according to UW Alumni. The Day of the Badger isn’t a single day, but rather 1,848 minutes of giving to commemorate the year UW was chartered.

This year’s Day of the Badger took place April 16–17 and more than 7,200 gifts were made to over 150 causes on campus, according to Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association director of media and public relations Tod Pritchard.

Director of annual giving Betsy Popelka Massnick said funds are allocated to best meet the needs of different programs.

“Whatever someone gave a gift to specifically, it would go to that area,” Popelka Massnick said. “Our partners on campus get to use those funds for how the fund was intended. Depending on how the fund is structured, it [the funds] goes to meet whatever those programs’ different initiatives.”

The Great People Scholarship, The Odyssey Project, The Arboretum and the Lakeshore Nature Preserve are among the programs that benefit from this fundraiser, Popelka Massnick said. The Great Peoples Scholarship — which provides financial aid to underrepresented students — received 829 individual donations this year, the most out of all the beneficiaries.

This year, the Day of the Badger team added a “Bucky Hunt,” where 10 plushies were hidden both days across campus for students to find. All 20 Buckys were recovered and their finders got to choose where their Buckys’ gift value would be allocated, according to Day of the Badger website.

“The impetus behind it was really to find a way to engage students with the event and help them feel part of it,” Popelka Massnick said. “Even if they weren’t able to make a personal gift as part of the Day of the Badger or share on social media, they could get excited about being part of the day by giving a gift through the support of someone from our organization.”

The Day of the Badger highlights the power of collective giving and the impacts fundraising has on supporting students attending this university, according to Popelka Massnick.

To show support and see what others did for this year’s Day of the Badger, use #DayoftheBadger on Instagram.