Social clubs and alumni participate in Giving Tuesday

Students on Oklahoma Christian University’s campus participated in Giving Tuesday by raising money for social service clubs and other personal causes. A team at the Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact, a cultural center in New York City, created the annual day to bring individuals together by giving back.

Aimee Furrie, the annual giving coordinator at Oklahoma Christian, said 2017 was the university’s second year to participate in Giving Tuesday. Although social clubs reach out to alumni throughout the year to ask for donations, there was an extra push for donations during Giving Tuesday because of a social club fundraising competition.

“Last year, it was a lot of fun,” Furrie said. “This year, there is a $1000 prize up for grabs. As the clubs reach out—getting alums involved to give back—the club with the most involvement wins the prize.”

Chi Lambda Phi won the prize for the most donations, with 13.83 percent of their alumni donating. Mason Fitzgerald, a member of Chi, said the prize money will be extremely beneficial to the club and hopefully be used to give back to the community in some way.

Fitzgerald said the day means a lot to the club because of its roots.

“Adam Langford was one of the founding fathers of Chi,” Fitzgerald said. “His scholarship is our passion project, where the money donated will go. He passed away helping people, so giving back means a lot.”

Joshua Clements, a member of Alpha Gamma Omega, participated in Giving Tuesday for the first time this week. Clements said he was surprised by how excited alumni were to give back.

“We did a callout on Tuesday to our Alpha alums, giving them an opportunity to donate to Alpha or to the school itself,” Clements said. “It was a little awkward at first, but we have a lot of connections with the Alpha alumni and they were excited to receive the calls.”

Because of Alpha’s impact on his collegiate career and the responses he received during Giving Tuesday, Clements said he would be excited to receive an opportunity to give back to his alma mater as an alum in the future.

While there are many projects, clubs and events on Oklahoma Christian’s campus, Furrie said they love when people donate to the general scholarship fund. However, Furrie said she knows alums are passionate about what they were involved in while on campus and encourages people to give to what they are passionate about.

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