Initiative exceeds initial $75K goal and raises more than $160K during University’s 125th anniversary year
Belmont University raised more than $160,000 during this year’s Bruins4Bruins initiative, a nine-day event centered around raising money to support the student experience on Belmont’s campus. Designed to engage with donors in a new and unique way, Bruins4Bruins utilized a variety of digital tools to spark conversation among a group of donors that, for many, were engaged with philanthropy for the first time.
With daily emails, social media updates and videos from notable Belmont faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni that included the announcement of generous challenge gifts, the Bruins4Bruins team was committed to raising funds for the initiative while also educating the Belmont community on the power and importance of philanthropic giving. Senior Director of Development and Alumni Relations and Bruins4Bruins project manager Stephen Snead said “Our team was very excited to launch this initiative again this year. After such a successful week last year, we knew we could expect great things. Not only are we raising dollars to support students, we’re also educating folks on the importance of giving back to something that’s important to them. We’re creating and sustaining a culture of lifelong philanthropy.”
Parent and Belmont donor Trudy Holden participated in a Bruins4Bruins email video that detailed her experience with Belmont and why she believes it’s important to support the University. “I chose to get so involved with the Belmont community when my oldest, Edsel, began studying audio here,” Holden said. “But I’ve stayed involved because of the impact I’ve seen this school have on my sons and the ways their lives have been forever changed by Belmont’s community, beliefs and mission.”
As of Monday’s tabulation, Bruins4Bruins raised more than $160,000, pushing the total far past what the team expected it to be. Once the team reached its initial $75,000, they announced a new goal of $125,000, a number chosen for its significance as the University rounds out its 125th Anniversary celebration this year. Snead said the team spent hours strategizing over the initiative’s communication efforts–and selecting a new goal–as they realized the initial $75K goal had been met by the event’s midpoint.
“We went off script and took it from there. We knew the Belmont community was engaging with us in ways we hadn’t seen before, and though we were barely at $100,000 when we set the $125K goal, we knew our supporters could get us there. We hoped for something great–they believed in something greater,” Snead said.
Bruins4Bruins was launched last year and with an inaugural goal of $50,000 in 2015, the initiative brought in more than $75K to provide opportunities for students. With this year’s extreme success following last year’s, Snead said his team is already dreaming of even bigger things for next year’s Bruins4Bruins and has their sights set on new goals and new ways to engage larger audiences.
“If we can DOUBLE the goal we set for Bruins4Bruins, where will we stop?” Snead said. “The future is so bright for building a continued culture of philanthropy at Belmont, and we’re honored to be the team that furthers that culture.”
Dr. Jayme Yeo, assistant professor of English, will present on the poetry of Lady Mary Wroth, a 17th century poet at the upcoming Shakespeare Association of America annual meeting. 
