Are You Up for a Challenge?

A group of students hold hearts up in the air with the water in the background on a graphic saying Alumni Council Challenge Win Up to $5,000 Giving Tuesday #smcmgives

If yes, sign up to be a Giving Tuesday Champion! To inspire the SMCM community to get involved with Giving Tuesday, the Alumni Council has offered up $30,000 to benefit student clubs, varsity teams, academic departments, scholarships or any SMCM fund. The best part – you get to determine where this money ultimately goes!

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

To compete for a piece of the $30,000 to go to your favorite SMCM fund, you must sign up to be a Giving Tuesday Champion by midnight on Wednesday, November 15 through the link below. The Alumni Council encourages alumni, students, employees and all supporters of SMCM to participate. 

In short, Champions rally their personal networks to make a donation of $10 or more and to select them as their “Champion” on the online giving form during the 32-hour Giving Tuesday Campaign (Monday, November 27 at 4 p.m. – Tuesday, November 28 at midnight EST). The ten Champions who receive the most votes will win between $500 and $5,000 for their SMCM fund of choice.

But wait, there’s more! Even if a Champion doesn’t finish in the top ten, they can still win big money. For every verified student or alum who votes for a Champion on the giving form, $10 donated by the Alumni Council will go to that Champion’s SMCM fund of choice. 

Wait again, there’s even more! Champions can win exclusive prizes by getting others involved. The more donor votes, the better the merch.  

THE DETAILS

  • Giving Tuesday Champions who sign up by November 15 will get access to a number of resources to help them raise money for their SMCM fund of choice (optional Zoom info sessions, pre-scripted social media posts, special donation links). 
  • Each Champions’ name and SMCM fund of choice will be listed on the Giving Tuesday online giving form. 
  • During the campaign (Monday, November 27 at 4 p.m. to Tuesday, November 28 at midnight EST), donors will have the opportunity to credit one Champion for inspiring them to donate by selecting that Champion’s name on the giving form.
  • The top ten Champions (by donor vote) will receive prizes ranging from $500 to $5,000 for their SMCM fund of choice (prize breakdown below).
  • In addition, for every verified student or alum who selects a Champion on the giving form, $10 from the Alumni Council donation will go to support that Champion’s SMCM fund of choice. Anyone can vote for a Champion, but students and alumni donors are worth another $10!
  • Finally, Champions with at least one donor vote will win exclusive SMCM merchandise as a thank you for their efforts.

THE BREAKDOWN - FIVE ADDITIONAL PRIZES THIS YEAR

Place Champion Award
1st $5,000
2nd $4,000
3rd $3,000
4th $2,000
5th $1,000
6th $500
7th $500
8th $500
9th $500
10th $500

THE BONUS - ALUMNI AND STUDENT DONORS

We can’t stress it enough. Alumni and student donors should be the primary focus for our Champions this year. Check out how these Alumni Council Challenge funds add up!

  • 1 Alumni or Student Vote – $10 to the Champion’s SMCM fund of choice
  • 10 Alumni or Student Votes – $100 to the Champion’s SMCM fund of choice
  • 50 Alumni or Student Votes – $500 to the Champion’s SMCM fund of choice
  • 200 Alumni or Student Votes – $2,000 to the Champion’s SMCM fund of choice

The Merch

You’ve worked hard to raise all this money on Giving Tuesday, you deserve to “Treat Yourself”! Inspire one or more donors to give on Giving Tuesday AND select you as the Champion on the giving form to win these exclusive SMCM self-care prizes:

  • 1+ Donor – SMCM Logo Fidget Spinner Pen
  • 5+ Donors – SMCM Logo Socks
  • 10+ Donors – SMCM Logo Puzzle
  • 25+ Donors – SMCM Logo Bathrobe

THE RULES - WE HAVE SOME NEW ONES

  • Champion Eligibility
    • Participants must sign up by midnight on Wednesday, November 15 through the link below.
    • All SMCM alumni, students, parents and employees are invited to participate – EXCEPT members of the SMCM Institutional Advancement team.
    • Champions must select an official SMCM department, club, team or fund to direct their winnings.
    • Official campus groups cannot combine efforts to publicly support one Champion and divide winnings (ex: Field Hockey and Men’s Rugby cannot use team resources like social media accounts to support the Field Hockey Champion and split the award money)
  • Donor Rules 
    • Donors can only vote for one Champion during the official campaign hours (Monday, November 27 at 4 p.m. – Tuesday, November 28 at midnight EST) for their Champion vote to count. 
    • If a donor makes more than one donation and selects multiple Champions, OR votes for the same Champion multiple times, only the first vote will be counted.
    • The name of the donor MUST match the name on the credit or debit card billing information, or the Champion vote will be disqualified (ex: a student cannot use a parent’s credit or debit card to make a donation and vote; donors cannot make a donation on behalf of another individual and list the other individual’s name as the donor, even if that individual pays them back in some form).
    • If a donor does not have a credit or debit card but wishes to vote for a Champion, they must visit the Campus Center Patio between 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 28 to make their donation. 
    • Donor names listed on the giving form that do not seem credible to the planning committee (pets, celebrities, cartoons, etc.) will have those Champion votes disqualified. 
    • Basically, a vote for a Champion will only count if the donor makes the donation themself and only votes one time during the campaign.
  • Results
    • The results displayed on the website throughout the campaign are only preliminary results. Official results will be announced by email and posted on the Giving Tuesday website on Friday, December 15 after all gifts are processed and ineligible votes are removed.
    • Alumni and student donors will be verified against database records before the $10 will be awarded to the Champion that received the alumni or student donor vote.
    • The prize pool may change at the planning committee’s discretion as additional donations from the Alumni Council come in. 
    • All prizes will be awarded and merchandise will be mailed soon after the winners are announced.

Questions?

David Sushinsky
Director of Alumni Relations
dmsushinsky@smcm.edu
(240) 895-3381