Johns Hopkins aims for 2,020 donors for Giving Tuesday

Students learning from home. Faculty teaching via Zoom. Health care workers facing extraordinary circumstances.

With things at Johns Hopkins looking decidedly different this year, this year's Giving Tuesday campaign has a deliberate focus on COVID-19 relief and research efforts spanning the institution. From students seeking emergency funds and technical support, to faculty leading vaccine research teams, to frontline health care workers requiring personal protection equipment and resources, the need for support this year is arguably the greatest in #GiveTueHopkins history.

Billed as the global day of giving, Giving Tuesday—Dec. 1 this year—remains a staple of Johns Hopkins' philanthropic efforts, with friends and alumni encouraged to give to a cause of their choice. This year, Johns Hopkins has set an unprecedented goal: securing gifts from 2,020 donors in 24 hours.

"My Hopkins experience means the world to me and shaped me into the person I am today," says Victoria Dawe, a 2015 graduate of JHU's Whiting School of Engineering. "That's why I give back every year, so other students and younger generations can have those same memories and make the same friendships that I was able to."

As in giving days past, donors have the chance to increase the value of their gifts through matching gifts and challenge gift opportunities, which have been secured by Hopkins divisions and departments. Donors are encouraged to visit the #GiveTueHopkins website to learn more about giving options and/or to offer a match or challenge of their own.

Those who give $25 or more are entitled to a new pair of socks to show off their Hopkins pride, with two limited-edition prints available: classic argyle or tropical Blue Jay.

"You can designate your gift to a student organization, a team, a department, or anything else, so that your dollars make the biggest impact in the area that is most important to you," Dawe says.

Anyone can give, and all are encouraged to spread the word by using the #GiveTueHopkins hashtag and following the day's activities on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the #GiveTueHopkins website.