UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Culminating on Tuesday, Nov. 30, Penn State’s annual GivingTuesday event set records for the seventh year in a row. More than 8,600 Penn State alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends helped to raise over $1.25 million and generate more than 10,500 gifts. This show of support, which benefitted programs and projects at every University college and campus, represents both the event’s largest fundraising total and the largest volume of participation to date.

“Penn Staters are known for their commitment to community, and this year’s GivingTuesday showed the incredible depth of that commitment,” said O. Richard Bundy III, vice president for development and alumni relations. “I’m proud as ever to be a Penn Stater and I can’t wait to see what our community achieves in 2022 with the generosity of thousands of GivingTuesday supporters cheering them on.”

This year’s event offered 150 featured funds representing every Penn State college and campus, and gifts were received from Penn Staters living in 49 U.S. states and territories and 14 countries. For the second year in a row, Dickinson Law took top place in the fundraising effort with contributions to the Dickinson Law Future Fund totaling $50,000 from 101 donors. Top-performing campaigns for total donors included the Penn State Blue Band Legacy Fund (327), the Penn State Alumni Association (238), which once again raised support to provide free Blue & White Society memberships to first-year students who contribute to the diversity of the student community, and the Smeal College of Business Student Emergency Fund (172).

Returning to the annual in-person celebration hosted in the HUB-Robeson Center, 37 Penn State student groups led efforts to support their organizations, setting a record for the largest number of participating student fundraisers. Student campaigns together raised more than $88,000 from over 1,400 donors, with the Penn State Glee Club securing the top number of donors (132).

Campaign updates and impact stories were shared throughout the day on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the event’s official hashtag, #TogetherWeAre.

“Every year we ask our community to show up on GivingTuesday and every year they do it with more enthusiasm than the year before,” said Jenny Daigle Benoit, Penn State’s executive director for annual giving. “Penn Staters are one of a kind. It’s true that together, We are Penn State, and together, we can do anything.”

Gifts made on GivingTuesday 2021 will advance “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hard-working students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpenstate.psu.edu.