More Than Ever Before
2025 has been an unparalleled year of philanthropic participation within the Park community, and Day of Giving provides a snapshot of that record-shattering success. The pentad of achievements includes challenge wins, elevated scholar and alumni participation, and the most Park Day of Giving gifts and funds ever raised. These gifts come with the added impact of being eligible for a 100% match via our new partnership with the Stamps Scholars Program. Thank you to everyone who made this year one to remember!
| PR = Personal Program Record
This success belongs to our entire Park community.
Together, we are sustaining the program and ensuring that there will be many more Park Scholars to come. We often hear from our donors their desire to pay it forward and provide other students with Park resources and support. This shared emphasis on giving back calls to the Park pillar of character, the strength that binds us and lays the foundation for our growing community.
Why Day of Giving?
This annual NC State University tradition is a fun, focused day to come together. Lead donors inspire the community by setting program challenges, such as a particular number of alumni donors or a total number of gifts. These internal challenges, such as the 300 Alumni Donor Challenge issued this year by Remy Roque ‘06, encourage folks to give, even if only a small amount, to unlock the $9,500 incentive.
NC State adds to the fun by providing prize funds for competitions throughout the day. University challenges, such as Most Family and Friend Gifts, Largest Gift, and several social media-based challenges, all have time-based constraints. Winning these challenges indicates that a program, department, or college has successfully set fundraising goals, communicated them clearly to their stakeholders, and secured supporter commitment.
This level of coordination is a testament to the dedication and appreciation of students, alumni, families, staff, and all supporters. For our cohesive success as a community, we have unlocked tens of thousands of additional dollars to fund future Park Scholars.
Leading up to the day, our Assistant Director of Engagement, Danielle Romanello, collaborates with many volunteer leaders to strategize our approach. Learn more about Danielle, as well as how to contact her to get engaged.
How Did We Do?
905 Gifts | $565,000+ Raised | Record number of gifts and dollars raised
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6 Challenge wins mark a record for our program!
Of these Challenges, 2 were internal Park Challenges:
300 Alumni Gifts | +$5,000
This Challenge was made possible by the generosity of Remy Roque ‘06!
350 Donors | +$9,500
This Challenge was created by the Park Regional Selection Committee Leaders
The other 4 Challenges were university-level:
Most Young Alumni Gifts | +$1,000
This achievement has been recognized by University Advancement for our disproportionate success.
“This is remarkable when you consider that our Young Alumni base is less than 5% of the College of Engineering. The fact that we are able to compete with enormous programs, like engineering and Poole College, says something important about the community and the connection people have to it.”
Most Parent and Family Gifts | +$1,000
Gifts from scholars’ families represent such a meaningful investment in our future, as they are helping ensure others can have the opportunities that their own scholar did.
Why I Give Challenge | +$500
Tori Huffman Pierce ‘15 claimed the win for us by sharing her thoughts on Instagram. She said, “I’m grateful for the impact of the program on my life, and I want to invest in its continued success.” Well put, Tori!
Largest Online Gift | +$1,000
Shout-out to a Park parents, Maureen and Chris Lamm, whose generous gift helped us win this challenge!
#1 University Priorities Leaderboard
For our position on the leaderboard, Park received an additional $5,483. This is calculated based on the relative percentage of participation from other University Priority initiatives, all competing for a fraction of the $25,000 prize.
In first place, Park earned 21.9% of the total funds raised by all groups that comprise the University Priorities category. These include all programs that are not college/unit-specific.
Scholar and Alumni Participation
28% Park Participation | 53% Class of 2007 Participation | 100% Class of 2028 Participation
The Class of 2007 set a new Alumni record with 53% Class participation. This shows we are doing a good job of staying connected with alumni and maintaining their support. Their appreciation and collective impact are what make Day of Giving so successful.
How successful? For instance, Danielle Romanello explained why it is so significant that we won the Young Alumni Challenge. “This is remarkable when you consider that our Young Alumni base is less than 5% of the College of Engineering. The fact that we are able to compete with enormous programs, like Engineering and Poole College, says something important about the community and the connection people have to it”(Danielle).
Endowments
We received 2 substantial major gifts on this Day of Giving, contributing to our overall success.
The Cunningham family has created another endowed scholarship! This marks our twelfth endowed scholarship, which covers half the costs of a scholar investment. Additionally, a couple of alumni started a new endowment! Jodee Ruppel ‘05 and Christian Wilson ‘03 committed $100,000 to launch a new endowment fund. These endowments will provide enduring, stable support for future scholars. We greatly appreciate these supporters.
Our Staff is Behind You
Park Staff are grateful for the generosity of our donors, and we stand with you in supporting the next generation of Scholars. This year, our staff had a 100% participation rate! We know firsthand how impactful the program is, and we are proud to be personally committed to it.
We couldn’t do it without Danielle Romanello, our Assistant Director of Engagement. Learn more about the woman leading our work and hear her thoughts on the day’s success.
Danielle’s Thoughts on Day of Giving 2025Leading Up to Next Year
Park Scholarships would like to thank everyone once again for their participation this year, and we encourage you to stay engaged throughout the year. Mark your calendar for Day of Giving in March of 2026!
Until then, you can learn more and give today!