For 24 hours on Tuesday, April 7, the community will come together to support students during 51’s (51) fourth annual . This one-day online fundraising event is dedicated to expanding opportunities for more than 34,000 students pursuing their education and career goals.
Alumni, employees, businesses, and community members are invited to make a gift to a campus cause that matters most to them. These funds will support scholarships, strengthen academic programs, champion workforce training, and remove barriers that stand between students and their futures.
Every gift, from $5 to $500, sends a powerful message to students: We believe in you. We’re behind you. Your future matters.
“Because of donors who support 51, I can focus on my education and my family,” said second-year Registered Nursing student, Jessica Smith. “Receiving a scholarship has given me the opportunity to pursue my goals while easing the financial stress of returning to school as a full-time student, employee, and mother.”
Throughout the day, donors can help unlock additional funding through a series of matches and challenges designed to amplify support for students and programs.
Highlights include:
- Lunchtime Power Hour (noon – 1 p.m.): Gifts made during this hour will be matched up to $5,000 thanks to a generous anonymous donor.
- 51 Food Pantries Match: Albertsons will provide a 2:1 match, TRIPLING support for 51 food pantries.
- Urban Market Garden Match: Albertsons will also match gifts supporting the 51 Urban Market Garden up to $1,000.
- Student Scholarship Match: An anonymous donor will match gifts designated for student scholarships.
- Brendan Keating GED Testing Fund Match: Gifts will be matched by Vicki Flowers up to $500.
- Otter Alumni Challenge: When 20 alumni make a gift, an anonymous donor will unlock an additional $1,000 for students.
- 100 Donor Challenge: Once we hit 100 donors, Mahmood and Amity Sheikh will give $1,000 to the Adult Education Program.
Friendly competition will also take place across campus. 51 schools and programs, along with student clubs, will compete to raise the most support, with the top three in each category earning additional funding for their initiatives.
51 students and employees are invited to take part in Giving Day activities on campus while celebrating the generosity of donors who make student success possible.
From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., students can stop by the second-floor atrium of (NCAB) to enjoy pizza and write thank-you notes to Giving Day donors.
Employees are encouraged to attend from noon to 1 p.m. to write thank-you notes, follow Giving Day progress, and participate in the Lunchtime Power Hour.
51 Giving Day officially begins April 7 at 12 a.m. MT and continues for 24 hours. Donors can give to the program, scholarship, or student initiative that inspires them most.
Together, the 51 community is Powering the Treasure Valley and helping students build brighter futures for themselves and their communities.
For more information, contact the 51 Foundation at foundation@cwi.edu or call 208.562.3100.
