GivingTuesday ’24 to focus on increasing Catamount Club membership, athletics facilities
WCU student-athlete Christina Layton during the 2024 SoCon regular season championship game against Wofford
By Bill Studenc
Western Carolina University will be ramping up support for the Catamount athletics program during this year’s edition of GivingTuesday, with a series of challenge gifts designed to help expand membership in the Catamount Club and increase funding for athletics facilities.
Members of the WCU Foundation Board of Directors have committed to contributing an extra $2 per donor for the first 1,000 donors during GivingTuesday, which falls on Dec. 3. That challenge could unlock an additional $14,000 for the Catamount Club Scholarship Fund if 1,000 people donate to WCU on GivingTuesday, said Rebekah Cheney, director of annual giving.
“We are thankful that members of the Foundation Board have stepped forward with these challenge gifts on behalf of the Catamount Club and our athletics program,” Cheney said. “We feel confident that the matching gifts will encourage others across Catamount Nation to get involved, and we expect to see additional challenge gifts as GivingTuesday approaches.”
WCU’s Division of Advancement has set an overall goal of 1,300 individual donors for GivingTuesday 2024.
GivingTuesday, which was launched in 2012, is a nationally observed day of philanthropy held on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and after the big shopping days of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
To magnify the impact of their contributions, Cheney recommends that donors check with their places of business to see if those companies or organizations provide corporate matching gifts for contributions made by their employees.
“You can contribute to this effort throughout the month of November up until Friday, Dec. 6,” she said. “All gifts – no matter the amount – will help us provide the type of top-notch experiences and facilities that our Catamount student-athletes deserve through scholarship support and upgrades to the places where they compete, practice and train.”
This year’s GivingTuesday comes as WCU approaches the spring semester public launch of its “Fill the Western Sky” comprehensive fundraising campaign. The third such campaign in the university’s history, “Fill the Western Sky” is the first with a significant focus on raising money for improvements to the university’s aging athletics infrastructure, part of an overarching effort to enhance the total student experience.
In addition to athletics facilities enhancements, the campaign is seeking contributions for student and faculty research, state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory facilities, outdoor learning space, study-abroad and study-away opportunities, and departmental and college initiatives.
Wes Cogdill, who joined WCU on Sept. 1 as associate athletics director and director of the Catamount Club, said that he has been impressed with the level of enthusiasm and support for WCU athletics he has witnessed so far.
“It’s an exciting time to join the Catamount family as we ramp up our ‘Fill the Western Sky’ fundraising effort,” Cogdill said. “This year’s GivingTuesday focus is part of an ambitious initiative to increase support for the Catamount Club, which is the lifeblood of our athletics program. Please help us back the Cats.”
GivingTuesday donations can be made at givingtuesday.wcu.edu or by contacting the WCU Division of Advancement at 828-227-7124 or annualgiving@wcu.edu.
