When Slippery Rock University changed plans for the rest of its semester in March 2020 due to COVID-19, community members still came out in support of its annual Giving Day. SRU officials hope for the same result this year.

The school set a $200,000 goal last year, but managed to raise more than $260,000 from 1,833 unique donors, according to a press release from the university.

Marissa Cozza, SRU's senior coordinator of annual giving and communication, said she believes that generosity will be repeated this year because many people want to give their support to specific programs.

“We encourage everybody to give where they would like to give,” Cozza said. “No matter where they are giving this Giving Day, you are impacting the lives of students.”

SRU has set a $300,000 donation goal for the fifth annual Giving Day, which takes place Friday, although the university is accepting donations online throughout the week.

Prior to last year, Giving Day was an all-day event consisting of in-person activities on campus, but this year's will mimic 2020's campaign and be conducted virtually.

Cozza said this change will likely not affect the amount or value of donations given, especially considering how much support donors demonstrated since the start of Giving Day. A press release from SRU said Giving Day has raised more than $475,000 for student scholarships, clubs, organizations, academic departments and athletic teams in the four years it has been held.“They just knocked our socks off last year,” Cozza said of the community. “They rallied around our students in a way that we never thought they would.”The university has fundraising challenges listed on its website. Different campus and community organizations will donate additional funds to the cause once different goals are met.The SRU Foundation Inc. board of directors, for example, has pledged to contribute $10,000 if 1,000 donors give before Friday.Mia Graziani, vice president of internal affairs for the Student Government Association, said the organization is also offering $3,000 to the person or organization that raises the most money on Giving Day.She said the Student Government Association has a goal to receive $1,000 this year from donors. The association has a budget each year that it allocates to other student organizations, and fundraisers help it give more money to the groups that need it.“This is really our main way of getting donations,” Graziani said. “This is really the time we get to reach out to (the) community, show them these are organizations we have and this is what we do while we're at school.”

Graziani has been a member of the association for the past three years, and said Giving Day has been an important day on campus every year.She said it is especially pertinent this year because the coronavirus pandemic has left many students and organizations with budgetary uncertainty — but in many cases, more are driven to be more active at school.“The whole campus community is excited for it this year,” Graziani said. “We're excited to reach out to the community and show our campus life has not completely stopped due to COVID-19.”Donors can give on the Giving Day web page, and they can also contribute by calling 724-738-2004 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or mailing the SRU Foundation, 104 Maltby Ave., Suite 100, Slippery Rock, PA, 16057.