Hornet Athletics Giving Day Advocate and Coach Toolkit

During Hornet Athletics Giving Day, we ask alumni and friends to make a gift in support of Kalamazoo College Athletics. We use targeted emails, social media posts, videos and advocacy to get the message out. Coaches, athletics staff and advocates can help promote the day by participating in personalized outreach. This might include encouraging your team(s), teammates and friends to share the College’s social media posts, create your own posts, and create giving challenges and donation matching. Thank you for stepping forward to build awareness and promote these giving efforts!

Hornet Athletics Giving Day is Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Goal: $150,000

Give to K

Resources for Advocates and Coaches

Responsibilities

  • Use social media, email, text and/or phone calls to inform your teams, teammates, K friends and extended circles about Hornet Athletics Giving Day. Encourage them to make a gift when the day arrives.
  • Please consider making a gift and using it as a match or challenge to encourage your teammates and K friends to give. You’ll find instructions below.
  • Continue to promote Hornet Athletics Giving Day via social media and other contacts throughout the day.
  • Show appreciation by thanking donors who have responded to your outreach.

Advocates: Two Steps to Getting Started

Step 1: Create a GiveCampus Account

Kalamazoo College uses the GiveCampus social fundraising platform for Hornet Athletics Giving Day. We encourage you to create an account through GiveCampus which will allow you to track the impact of your outreach, as well as make your outreach more strategic. Here’s how to get started:

  • To create your account, go to givecampus.com/KalamazooCollege/ and click on ‘Sign Up’ in the top right corner of the page. You will be asked to fill in your name, email address and create a password. You may also choose to sign up with Facebook.
  • If you are signing up with an email, please check for a confirmation from GiveCampus to complete your registration.

Step 2: Creating a Matching Gift or Challenge

As advocates, you can further inspire your teammates and K friends by creating a matching gift or challenge. Matches and challenges are similar, but there is a key difference:

  • Matching Gifts are made on a per-donor or per-dollar basis:
    • “I will match up to $500 dollar-for-dollar for the next $500 that is donated to Women’s Basketball.”
  • Challenges are milestone-based:
    • “If 50 people donate to Men’s Lacrosse, I will give $250.”

We recommend you make your match or challenge as simple as possible.


Communication Timeline

Advocates and coaches are encouraged to share an awareness or “save the date” post in advance of the day and post throughout Hornet Athletics Giving Day itself. Please share your gratitude with your donors on Thursday, February 20. See our recommended communication timeline below.

DateContent
Sometime between February 3-10Save the Date awareness message
Tuesday, February 18 Reminder: Tomorrow is the Day
Wednesday, February 19 in the morningDay of Announcement and link to campaign
Wednesday, February 19 in the afternoon/eveningYour personal student-athlete story and link to give
Thursday, February 20 in the afternoonCampaign results and a message of gratitude

Social Media Posts and Images

Hornet Athletics Giving Day URL

kzoo.edu/hornetathleticsgivingday

This URL/campaign link is the main giving page for Hornet Athletics Giving Day. A pre-launch campaign page is in place until February 19 to allow for early gifts to be accepted and matches/challenges to be set up. If you are utilizing a GiveCampus advocate account, please make sure you are logged in and use the share/link tools available to track the results and impact of your communication activities.


Sharing the College’s Posts

K’s social media accounts will be used for Hornet Athletics Giving Day awareness and day of posts. You are encouraged to share the College’s posts on your own social accounts or team pages! When using your personal accounts, tagging folks is also a great way to get their attention!

Kalamazoo College Social Media Accounts

Kalamazoo College Athletics Social Media Accounts


Creating Your Social Media Posts

We encourage you to share posts and photos from your days as a K student-athlete. How did your student-athlete experience support your life after graduation? What memories and lessons in character, leadership, sportsmanship and academic excellence would you share?

You are also invited to use the sample posts below, as is or personalized in your own voice—emojis encouraged!

As a reminder, login to your GiveCampus account to share/post when possible. You can use #HornetAthleticsGivingDay in all of your social posts and include a link to the campaign’s page: kzoo.edu/hornetathleticsgivingday.

Sample Social Media Posts

Awareness Post

Option 1
Mark your calendars for Wednesday, February 19 and join me in supporting [insert Kalamazoo College Athletics or your team here]! Your gift helps fuel the journey of K student-athletes, providing the resources they need to train, compete, and succeed in the classroom and in life. Let’s champion the next generation of Hornets by make a gift on #HornetAthleticsGivingDay!

Option 1.a (shorter for X)
Mark your calendars for Wed, Feb 19! Support [Kalamazoo College Athletics/your team] and help fuel K student-athletes’ success on & off the field. Make a gift on #HornetAthleticsGivingDay! #GoHornets

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 Morning Post

Option 1
Hey #KAthleticsFam! Today is Hornet Athletics Giving Day! Let’s rally together in support of today’s student-athletes at K. Each gift, big or small, fuels excellence and supports K’s athletic teams and programs. Ready, set, donate! #HornetAthleticsGivingDay

Option 1.a (shorter for X)
Hey #KAthleticsFam! Today is #HornetAthleticsGivingDay! Let’s rally for K student-athletes—every gift fuels excellence. Ready, set, donate! #GoHornets

Option 2
Help empower K student-athletes to reach new heights! Your gift today fuels their journey, from training to competition to success in the classroom. Every donation makes a difference! #HornetAthleticsGivingDay

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 Afternoon/Evening Posts

Option 1
Invest in the journey of tomorrow’s leaders! When you give on Hornet Athletics Giving Day, you’re helping shape the future for the better. Support Kalamazoo College student-athletes as they take their journey to academic, athletic and personal success. Make a gift today! #HornetAthleticsGivingDay

Option 1.a (shorter for X)
Invest in tomorrow’s leaders! Your gift on #HornetAthleticsGivingDay fuels K student-athletes’ success on and off the field. Make a difference today!

Option 2
Thirty-three percent of Kalamazoo College students participate in intercollegiate athletics. Your gift to [insert K Athletics or your sport here] during today’s Hornet Athletics Giving Day will help provide student-athletes with the best possible experiences! #HornetAthleticsGivingDay

Option 3
Be a part of the team and make an impact! There is still time to participate in Hornet Athletics Giving Day. Your gift today will help ensure resources are available to support the success of K’s remarkable student-athletes. #HornetAthleticsGivingDay

Thursday, February 20, 2025 Thank-You Posts

Important Note: The campaign will officially close at 11am on Thursday. Please wait until the campaign closes to share the final giving totals as displayed on the campaign page.

Option 1
Thank you #KAthleticsFam! You showed up and the results are inspiring! Thank you for being a part of #HornetAthleticsGivingDay and supporting the journey of K student-athletes.

Option 2
Thank you to all our [insert Kalamazoo College Athletics or your sport here] donors who gave during Hornet Athletics Giving Day! You helped raise $XXXX. Thank you for supporting our student-athletes!

Option 3
Please note: If you are using this option, please go to the Hornet Athletics Giving Day Campaign and look at your individual sport total. Please report the number you see there in this social media outreach. Thank you.

Thank you for making #HornetAthleticsGivingDay a success! We are grateful for the $XXXX that was raised to support [insert your sport here] and the impact these gifts will make in the months and years ahead. Go Hornets!


Social Media Images


Contact Information

Have Questions? Please contact Lindsay O’Donohue, Senior Director of Constituent Programs and Annual Giving, at lindsay.odonohue@kzoo.edu or 269.337.7299.