Pamplin donors help Virginia Tech, college smash Giving Day records

When Pamplin puts out a call to its alumni and friends, they answer in multitudes.

For the third year in a row, the Pamplin College of Business outpaced all Virginia Tech colleges and units on Giving Day, with 2,683 unique donors – a 16 percent increase from 2022  – giving $2,556,240 in support of the college, both new Giving Day records. Virginia Tech shattered previously set Giving Day records, bringing in over $9.6 million in support from 16,841 unique donors, including some from as far away as Australia.

The 24-hour window from noon, Feb. 15, through noon, Feb. 16, marked Virginia Tech’s fifth Giving Day, a celebration of giving that enabled members of the Hokie Nation to support the university’s colleges, departments, programs, teams, student organizations, and more.

“Thanks to the generosity of Pamplin alumni, family, and friends, Giving Day was once again a huge success for Pamplin College of Business,” said Interim Dean Roberta (Robin) Russell. “A special thanks to all our challenge donors and ambassadors. Your contributions and engagement of your networks helped amplify every gift to Pamplin.”

By leading all colleges and units in unique donors and amount raised, as well as finishing first in 10 hourly challenges, Pamplin was awarded an additional $25,000 to be shared equally amongst all Pamplin units who participated in the Pamplin Giving Day Leaderboard.

Through the generosity of the Pamplin Leaderboard Challenge donors, the top 10 funds with the most donors won a share of $100,000 with additional funds unlocked for the #11-32 placements.

Pamplin’s student-run, faculty-led digital marketing agency, PRISM, topped the Pamplin Leaderboard for the second straight year with 489 donors. The Hospitality & Tourism Management Annual Fund and Bond & Securities Investing by Students, or BASIS, finished second and third on the leaderboard, respectively.

Pamplin extends its gratitude to Leaderboard Challenge donors Baback Bazri ’04, Pranay Bhargava ’15, Greg Carter ’84, Tracy Castle-Newman ’90, Mike Clarke ’83, Gary Cole ’92, Brian Cook ’79, Kendley Davenport ’84, Chip Devine ’92, Lynne Doughtie ’85, Shirley Edwards ’82, Don Halliwill ’90, Jim Hatch ’72, Jeff Hartman ’79, Starlette Johnson ’85, Carman Liuzzo ’83, Jake Lutz ’78, Mark Maloney ’82, Mary McVay ‘78, MBA ’81, Floyd Merryman ’81, Don Neff ’90, Matt Ogburn ’04, Jim Pearman ’70, Debbie Petrine ’78, Terri Rivalte ’85, Bridget Ryan-Berman ’82, Kim Shanahan ’93, Greg Thompson ’77, Richie Whitt ’87, Chris Xystros ’84, and an anonymous donor.

Thanks to the Global Business and Analytics (GBAC) Challenge, over $110,000 was unlocked for the complex, one of the six top presidential priorities of Boundless Impact: The Campaign for Virginia Tech. The complex will consist of two academic buildings as well as multiple living-learning communities oriented around business, analytics, and international affairs. The first building of the complex, the Data and Decision Sciences Building, is currently under construction.

The 2023 GBAC Challenge was facilitated by a collective of passionate Pamplin supporters, including Chris Shean ’87, David Phipps ’86, Dwight Shelton ’71, Brian Cook ’79, MBA ’81, and an anonymous Pamplin parent, all of whom believe strongly in the transformational educational experiences that GBAC will catalyze.

An additional $4,300 was unlocked for the Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) thanks to the Office for DEIB Bonus Challenge donors and Interim Dean Russell.

As demonstrated in previous Giving Days, much of the success of Giving Day 2023 can be attributed to the dedicated efforts Giving Day ambassadors who, along with supporting the cause through donations, also spread the message of Giving Day to their network of family and friends via social media and other means. The “You+2” challenge encouraged ambassadors to make a gift and have at least two others within their circle do the same.

“Our engaged alumni and volunteers played a key role in the success of Giving Day 2023. Leading by strong example, over 219 Pamplin ambassadors – a 50 percent increase from 2022 – contributed to the Giving Day effort, spreading the message of giving across their networks,” said Gary Cole '92, Pamplin Advisory Council Development Committee Chair. “We also saw 100 percent participation in Early Giving by Pamplin Advisory Council members which illustrates a steadfast commitment to the college and its long-term success.”

For Virginia Tech, nearly 1,500 Giving Day ambassadors brought in $912,535 in gifts from 9,859 donors.

PRISM was integral in helping shape Pamplin’s Giving Day marketing plan and staffing the command center in the Pamplin atrium throughout Giving Day. Their engagement with fellow students also helped activate strong student participation.

“It was a great team effort by the entire Pamplin community to promote Giving Day,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, assistant dean of advancement for the Pamplin College of Business. “Giving Day serves as a community-building event to advance our culture of philanthropy and to provide critical resources through the power of broad-based participation. Thank you all who helped make this a great success and for helping to build a stronger Pamplin College of Business.”