Another “Great Day”: Bates community rallies on college’s day of giving

The Bates community turned out in force to show its philanthropic support for the college on April 23, this year’s annual day of giving, Great Day to Be a Bobcat.

Bates received 1,164 gifts during the 24-hour period, 871 of which came from new donors. Together, alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff and students made gifts totaling $335,192.81.

Now in its second year, Great Day celebrates Bates pride and recognizes the role of philanthropy in strengthening the college.

Erin Kintzing ’11 kicked off the day with her gift, made at 12:28 RET, from Réunion Island off the coast of Madagascar. In a midnight email to alumni and parents she joked that making a gift from the middle of the Indian Ocean was easy.

Faculty and staff made a strong showing, as did members of the Class of 2014, who also contributed to the collective giving effort by supporting their ongoing Senior Class Gift.

Trustee Quoc Tran ’95 offered a special challenge to the seniors: He pledged to add $1,000 to their class gift if they added 75 donors on Great Day. The seniors rose to the challenge, adding 80 to the day’s total. They hope to achieve 90 percent participation by Commencement weekend.