WCU’s GivingTuesday nets $6 million
WCU’s mascot, Paws. The university broke records with its GivingTuesday efforts. Donated photo
Friends and alumni contributed more than $6 million to Western Carolina University during the 2024 GivingTuesday initiative, nearly quadrupling the previous record set last year and setting the stage for a corresponding challenge gift that would unlock significant additional funding for WCU athletics facilities renovations.
National construction contracting company Phillips and Jordan Inc. has pledged $1 million toward upgrades to WCU’s athletics facilities, specifically to E.J. Whitmire Stadium, if the Catamount Club reaches a total of 2,000 members by June 30, 2025. That challenge issued by company CEO Teddy Phillips, Jr. kicked off during the GivingTuesday campaign.
While the 2024 edition of GivingTuesday at WCU centered on growing membership in the Catamount Club and increasing support for athletics facilities improvements, donors were free to direct contributions to any area of the university of their choosing. The Phillips and Jordan challenge, however, is focused solely on enlarging the Catamount Club.
GivingTuesday also featured several other challenge gifts providing bonus funding to the university based on meeting certain criteria. Members of the WCU Foundation Board of Directors committed to contributing an extra $2 per donor for the first 1,000 donors during GivingTuesday.
With a GivingTuesday donor tally topping 1,550, meeting that challenge has resulted in an additional $14,000 for the Catamount Club. In addition, 16 members of the WCU Alumni Association Board of Directors and Office of Alumni Engagement staff collectively offered a matching gift for the Catamount Club totaling $800 in added support.
Going into this year’s GivingTuesday, which fell on Dec. 3, WCU’s Division of Advancement had announced a goal of 1,300 individual donors, with an emphasis on increasing financial contributions to the Catamount Club and athletics facilities renovations.
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Now that the dust has settled, the division reports that 1,555 individual donors made 1,628 gifts on GivingTuesday, surpassing the original goal by 255 donors. That total includes 274 new, first-time donors. The final tally of gifts and pledges raised through GivingTuesday totaled $6,074,007.73, shattering last year’s then-record of $1,571,180.51 received from 1,251 donors.
Rebekah Cheney, WCU’s director of annual giving, compared tallying contributions to GivingTuesday to counting ballots after Election Day.
“The counting period for GivingTuesday actually began on Nov. 1, which is akin to early voting,” Cheney said. “We continue counting contributions through Dec. 9 so we can include any gifts that were sent through the mail in the total figures. Our team reviews all the gift data to ensure we’ve counted every gift and every donor, similar to how election results are not certified until they are confirmed through the canvassing process.”
In addition to the Catamount Club and support for WCU athletics facilities renovations and programs, GivingTuesday gifts went to assist other areas such as academic program endowments, the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band and the Division of Student Affairs Student Emergency Fund.
With another successful GivingTuesday now in the rearview mirror, WCU is turning its attention to increasing membership in the Catamount Club and meeting the challenge issued by Phillips and Jordan Inc., a company with roots in the Western North Carolina town of Robbinsville and headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Phillips, Jr., a former member of the university’s Board of Trustees who studied business management at WCU in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has pledged $1 million in corporate support toward renovations to E.J. Whitmire Stadium if the Catamount Club hits the 2,000-member mark before the close of the fiscal year. The gift represents the latest example of a long history of support of Catamount athletics by the company and the family that founded it.
The Phillips and Jordan challenge is part of the ongoing “Fill the Western Sky” comprehensive fundraising campaign to raise support for WCU’s academic, student engagement and athletics programs. The campaign, entering its public phase in early 2025, is WCU’s first with a significant focus on raising philanthropic support for improving facilities used by student-athletes.
Ben Pendry, WCU vice chancellor for advancement, characterized the Phillips and Jordan challenge gift as one of the most impactful in the university’s history.
“The challenge will help us make critical improvements to our athletics facility infrastructure while also building the base of philanthropic support for the future. The amazing response from our donors on GivingTuesday reflects the significant sense of commitment that our alumni, friends, parents, faculty, staff, students and stakeholders feel for helping this institution deliver on its mission,” Pendry said. “I am optimistic that they will now rise to answer this new challenge. We need each and every person to step up and join the Catamount Club as we work toward reaching 2,000 members to meet the goal.”
Wes Cogdill, associate athletics director and director of the Catamount Club, called support for the Catamount Club “the lifeblood of the WCU athletics program.”
“The more than 350 student-athletes who represent this university by donning their purple and gold uniforms on the courts, fields and tracks of intercollegiate competition depend upon the contributions of members of the Catamount Club,” Cogdill said. “We appreciate Teddy Phillips and his company for helping energize our fan base through this generous challenge gift, and we are thankful for the wonderful support received on GivingTuesday.”
Launched in 2012, GivingTuesday is a nationally observed day of philanthropy held on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and after the big shopping days of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Next year’s GivingTuesday will be on Dec. 2.
For those who missed GivingTuesday but still want to make a gift to WCU before the end of the calendar year, contact the Division of Advancement (828.227.7124 or 800.492.8496) or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Online giving also is available by visiting the website makeagift.wcu.edu.
