The University of Tennessee at Martin is preparing for its 11th annual Captain’s Challenge fundraising drive, to be held all day on Wednesday, April 2.
The Captain’s Challenge is a single-day organized means of enabling people to make gifts to the university in a wide variety of ways and have matching funds attached to those gifts.
“Captain’s Challenge is UT Martin’s day of giving,” said Matt Borden, director of annual giving. “The goal this year is $450,000 and 1,500 donors.”
Captain’s Challenge affects every aspect of the university, and every gift fund can receive a match.
Those wanting to make a gift on April 2 should go to challenge.utm.edu and select the area or aspect of the university to donate to. The majority of the university’s colleges, athletics, organizations and more will be represented at the Captain’s Challenge site.
“There are more than 500 specific allocations,” Borden said. “Each dean has specified up to 15 funds on their collegiate landing pages.
“A few companies have gotten involved, and that’s a new and exciting aspect this year. There is a ‘matches and challenge’ section, and there will be special designated links for various companies to support UT Martin that have a scholarship within the university.”
The amount of matching funds has increased over last year, enabling people’s gifts to go even further.
“We have more than 20 unique matches available this year,” Borden said. “That includes Bill Blankenship’s $50,000 general match, and he has been a matching donor since the Captain’s Challenge inception.”
Blankenship is a 1955 UT Martin alumnus and a noted donor to the university.
“This is a great opportunity for first-time donors,” Borden said. “Their gift receives a match, so their first gift is truly double the impact.”
Borden added that there are fun challenges in place for UTM students to get into the act.
“We also have a unique email and program for undergraduate students this year called ‘Captain’s Karaoke,’” he said. “We’ll be promoting $5, $10 and $15 for that segment, and it all goes to the Student Assistance Fund. The idea is ‘Students helping students: Putting the ‘care’ in ‘karaoke.’”
Each gift will represent a vote to have a faculty or staff member sing something karaoke-style that is not on their playlist. The two faculty/staff members with the most votes will be summoned to sing.
Last year, a record 1,441 donors donated $428,527 to the Captain’s Challenge.
Dr. Jackie Johnson, associate vice chancellor and chief engagement officer, said that people who want to become advocates – marketing partners – can sign up through the Captain’s Challenge.
“They will get access to a promotional tool kit,” she said. “They will get a sample email and sample graphic that they can post on social media. They are challenged with promoting the day to their friends and family.
“On our giving page, they can keep track of who is giving through their link. Information about becoming an advocate can also be found at challenge.utm.edu.”
For more information about the Captain’s Challenge or giving to UT Martin in general, contact Borden at mborden5@utm.edu or 731-881-3611. The UT Martin giving website can be found at giving.utm.edu.
