Bucks vs. Ducks Giving Challenge

[LucieTheLakie]

While the football teams of the University of Oregon and Ohio State University battled for the national championship Monday night, the universities also waged a fundraising challenge . . . The Buckeyes, who won the game, also took an early lead in the fundraising challenge. As of midday Monday, Ohio State University had received 831 gifts to Oregon’s 410. The challenge concludes noon Tuesday.

The money raised will support academics, according to officials.

http://philanthropy.com/article/OreOhio-State/151159/

[LucieTheLakie]

“At any large institution that has a successful sports program, there are going to be people who feel that academics are left out,” (Rob) Ericson (Oregon’s director of annual giving) said. “This was a great opportunity to give them a voice and let them rally behind our sports team and our academic mission.”

I’m not sure that people who feel strongly that academics are being neglected in favor of football at schools like Ohio State and Oregon are going to be motivated by a campaign like this, but it will be interesting to see how much money is raised and whether it was drawn primarily from longtime athletic boosters or a different population of donors (and whether it’s new money or just cannibalized from the schools’ traditional annual giving programs).