St. Lawrence University was founded in 1856. The 1856-Minute Challenge, named after the University’s founding date, aims to raise money for scholarships and financial aid for both incoming and current St. Lawrence students. The challenge is organized each year by SLU’s Annual Giving office.
“We try to do the challenge to get more alumni, parents, students, faculty, and staff, just every area of the University, involved with giving,” said Assistant Director of Annual Giving Anne Clements. “This year, we focused on scholarship and financial aid, so all the gifts that come in from everyone go toward scholarship and financial aid, as well as the St. Lawrence fund.”
The challenge began at 10:04 a.m. on Wednesday, April 25 and concluded at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 26. Two anonymous Laurentian families said they would give $350,000 to the University if 2,022 people donated any amount of money to St. Lawrence within these 1,856 minutes. However, because this number of donors was reached before Thursday evening’s deadline, “[the anonymous donors] decided to put $150,000 more into the pot if we raised our goal by 650 donors, and we actually just beat that goal, too,” Clements added.
Between the two anonymous donors and the many additional contributions, a total of $812,650 was raised to fund student scholarships and financial aid. “The challenge was extremely successful, with more than 3,000 donors,” said St. Lawrence Assistant Director of Laurentian Engagement Alexis Williams, who produced most of the social media content for the 1856-Minute Challenge. “I want our future and current SLU students to have the same or better experience than what I had through good scholarships and financial aid.”
The organizers say the challenge promoted a sense of rivalry between members of the Laurentian community, which encouraged many people, particularly recent alums, to donate to St. Lawrence. “During this challenge, and something we have seen over the last several challenges, is the fierce Laurentian competitiveness that comes alive,” said SLU Director of Marketing Megan Keniston. “It’s fun to watch that amount of St. Lawrence pride play out on social media and know that it is simultaneously helping the university.”
Additionally, they say any donation to the university makes a difference. “I am really proud to give what I can to my alma mater, and I make sure to do it every year,” stated Keniston, a class of 2007 graduate. “Thanks to spending most of my career in higher education, I know the impact annual gifts of all sizes have at St. Lawrence, and I see those gifts hard at work every day.”
The 1856-Minute Challenge will occur again next April at St. Lawrence University. Although the campaign ended on April 26, donations can still be made to the University via the 1856-Minute Challenge’s website.