SEMO exceeds $350K Giving Day donation goal

For the second consecutive year, Southeast Missouri State University set a fundraising record on its annual Giving Day.

The university received 1,098 individual gifts last week, totaling $359,401, exceeding the University Foundation’s goal of $350,000. In 2023, SEMO doubled its $150,000 goal by raising $307,000.

"It feels amazing," SEMO Annual Fund coordinator Kristen Seabaugh said. "It was a lofty goal that we set for ourselves. We wanted to make sure that we not only met (the total from) last year, but that we exceeded the overall amount raised. We wanted to beat that again this year. It’s amazing, exciting and hopefully, it’ll open up a lot of doors for students, faculty and staff across campus."

The University Foundation was able to meet each of the gift challenges set by SEMO alumni who pledged gift amounts based on whether the challenge’s criteria were met. According to Seabaugh, the university raised $202,000 from challenge pledges.

"I think that says we really have a network of people that care about the university and want to see us be successful in the next 150 years," Seabaugh said. "It speaks volumes to our alumni, our network and the people that just give back.

"Talking to a few of these people that set up these challenges, they wanted to make sure that their challenge was a doable goal and that it wasn’t something that would be completely out of the question to get. I think it just says that we have a lot of people that care about this campus and care about similar goals."

SEMO’s athletics department received the most donations with 285 individual contributions totaling $73,149, while the student support fund received 125 gifts for $54,697.46, and the donor’s choice option received 44 donations for $43,508.

In addition to exceeding its fundraising goal, SEMO received 189 gifts from first-time donors.

"Our VP is really into first-time donors," Seabaugh said. "We had 189 people that gave their first gift to the university, which is pretty big."

While the goal for next year has yet to be set, Seabaugh expects the University Foundation to continue to aim high.

"It can only go up from here, and we’re excited about the future," Seabaugh said.

For more information about and results from SEMO Giving Day 2024, visit semo.edu/givingday.