Giving Tuesday brings in $118,000 for WKU

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- Last week, the world celebrated “Giving Tuesday,” a day dedicated to making charitable gifts and donations to organizations in need, and that includes colleges and universities.

Western Kentucky University participated in the movement, and on Tuesday they announced a record number of gifts from Giving Tuesday 2018.

The school announced that it received gifts totaling $118,127.57. That number represents a 22% increase from Giving Tuesday 2017.

Of the 477 individuals who donated to Western, 68 of them were first-time donors to WKU.

According to officials, that number is a 16.9% increase from 2017.

The university was able to increase engagement this year through social media usage with alumni and others using #GivingTuesday and #WKU to share that they had made a gift to the university.