Ironclad Giving Day Raises $1.18 Million From 3,947 Donors in 24 Hours

The third annual Ironclad Giving Day closed at 7:33 a.m. Wednesday with $1,184,320 raised from 3,947 donors, a 31 percent increase over the 2025 total and the first time the 1,893-minute campaign has cleared $1 million. Gifts came from all 50 states and eleven countries, and 612 donors were giving to UW–Porter Falls for the first time.

Donors could direct money to any of 118 funds, from scholarships to club sports. The student emergency fund, which covers sudden costs such as a car repair or a lost paycheck, again drew the most individual gifts (1,064), while the largest dollar total went to the manufacturing engineering equipment fund, boosted by a $75,000 challenge from a group of 1980s graduates who matched every gift made between 6 and 9 p.m.

Where the money went

• Scholarships: $402,600 across 41 named and general funds
• Student support (emergency fund, food pantry, First-Generation Student Center): $188,950
• Labs and equipment: $236,400
• Athletics and club sports: $214,700, led by softball and wrestling
• Unrestricted and other: $141,670

Twenty-two student volunteers staffed a phone and text bank in the Welcome Center through the night, fueled by what the Foundation described as “a regrettable quantity” of pizza from a Depot District restaurant. The cross-country team ran a relay lap of campus every hour the total crossed a $50,000 mark; they ran 23 laps.

“The number people will remember is the million. The number I care about is the 612 first-time donors, most of them graduates from the last ten years. That is the next generation of people who will keep this place going.”

— Hollis Vang, director of Advancement & Alumni Relations

Gifts made on Giving Day are receipted within ten business days. Donors who want to change a fund designation can contact the UW–Porter Falls Foundation at (715) 555–0177. A full list of funds and current priorities is on the giving priorities page, and the give page stays open the other 364 days of the year.

Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu