With Thanksgiving around the corner, UT celebrates the act of giving in its own way. Today marks the eighth annual Big Orange Give, one of the largest UT donations drives of the school year.
According to Mallorie Mendence, director of special events and public relations at UT’s Alumni Center, the event has raised over $10 million for UT organizations, research, professorships, scholarships and more in the last seven years.
Last year alone, Big Orange Give surpassed its $2.25 million goal to reach $2.55 million with 6,869 donors. This year Mendence hopes they will receive upwards of $2.5 million.
Mendence encourages students to give what they can but understands that the current pandemic makes giving a lot harder than usual.
“The pandemic has affected how we speak to our donors. It’s been a challenging year, but we’re still thinking the Vol Nation wants to support our students,” Mendence said. “We’re not asking anyone for a ton of money by any means. Giving what they can (would) be great.”
Anyone involved with the Vol Nation can give, which includes current students, alumni or even people who are just UT fans. With a donor base so wide, donations do not need to be large.
“The donor base is so spread out, it’s a great way for everyone to give. Last year, a vast majority of donations were under $100. Alumni, fans, friends, past donors — it’s a big slew of groups that donate,” Mendence said.
However, students do not have to give to a single large fund and simply hope that their money is put to good use. Instead, the Big Orange Give website offers over 400 funds for specific colleges, scholarship programs and campus organizations.
If someone only wants to donate to UT’s history or classics department, they can do this. If one only wants to support a favored club sport, they can do that as well.
“Donors choose where their money goes. There are hundreds of different funds. Last year, donors supported over 400. That included needs-based, merit-based, campus-wide and college-specific scholarships,” Mendence said. “This year we give donors the chance to further support students with the Student Emergency Fund.”
Funds can support hiring new professors, new scholarships, new equipment for campus organizations and much more.
Vol Starter Intern and captain of the club softball team is Natalie Milewski. Her club took part in the RecSports Challenge, where club sports compete to raise the most money. For her and her club, Big Orange Give was a great opportunity to raise funds otherwise lost to the group due to the pandemic.
“Big Orange Give really gives us the opportunity to fundraise. It’s going to help us a lot in our 2021 season because of COVID. We’re trying to make up for it to prepare for next semester,” Milewski said. “Big Orange Give gave us that platform, which I don’t think we would’ve had otherwise.
She also assures students that donations are put to good use and are not without any clear goal.
“As a student, it’s great knowing that this money is going to specific organizations and not just sitting in a fund somewhere. People have plans for this money, which I think is fantastic,” Milewski said.
Some times are better to donate than others. Jim and Natalie Haslam matched up to $250 for each donor from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The UT Knoxville Alumni Board of Directors will match up to $250 for each donation until donations reach $50,000, but only after 6:00 p.m.
Former UT footballer Joshua Dobbs will match one-to-one until the match reaches $5,000. Many more match opportunities exist on an individual college or club level, giving plenty of opportunities to maximize donations.
There are also shorter goals. For example, if Vol Nation raises $1.75 million, a generous anonymous couple will donate $750,000 to the Renovate Carousel Theatre Campaign. There are campaigns for every interest at UT.
Donations close at midnight tonight. You can donate here.
