One Day. One KU. celebrates its fifth anniversary on Feb. 17

LAWRENCE — On Feb. 17, One Day. One KU. turns 5. This annual day of giving to benefit the University of Kansas will inspire stories and gifts that will make an impact for generations to come.

Each year, this single day has set a fundraising record through donors’ generosity and creative matches and challenges that inspire others to give. In 2021, donors gave 5,412 gifts totaling nearly $3.4 million to support programs and initiatives across all five campuses — Lawrence, the Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KU Medical Center in Kansas City, and the KU schools in Wichita and Salina.

Now in its fifth year, One Day. One KU. hopes to hit a new fundraising record with a wide array of matching gifts and challenges to inspire new donors and veteran philanthropists. To date, approximately $860,000 in match-challenge commitments have been secured, with more than 130 unique giving opportunities, including:

• Members of the KU Endowment Board of Trustees, along with Chancellor Douglas A. Girod and Susan Girod, will match all gifts to the Greater KU Fund, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000. 
• KU alumnus and 1970 KU Debate squad member David Pittaway will match donations made to the KU National Debate Championship Scholarship Fund up to $250,000.
• KU alumnus and Google Earth co-founder Brian McClendon will contribute $50,000 to support undergraduate student scholarships upon receipt of 100 gifts of any amount to the KU School of Engineering.
• In memory of her late husband, former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, Sen. Elizabeth Dole will match all gifts up to $10,000 for the Dole Institute’s New Era Student Opportunity Fund.

Gifts made online, by phone and in person between 12 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. CST on Feb. 17 will count toward One Day. One KU. Visit the event website to find out more and to donate.

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.