Kalamazoo College students typically celebrate the Day of Gracious Living (DOGL) at the beach. This year, many young alumni commemorated gracious living with gracious giving.

On Wednesday, May 15, alumni from the Classes of 2002 through 2012 contributed through the Kalamazoo College Fund as part of the first DOGL Challenge, a one-day giving opportunity just for K’s young alumni. Linda Jackson ’82 challenged K’s young alumni to make a gift on DOGL by pledging to match all gifts dollar-for-dollar, up to $2,500. The goal: raise $5,000 for K in a single day.

Then, something unexpected happened on the morning of DOGL: young alumni gave at a surprising rate. Before noon they had exceeded the $2,500 match. Jackson was so pleased with the response that she increased her challenge to $5,000.

By the end of the day, 178 young alumni had made a gift through the DOGL Challenge, contributing a total of $8,124. With Jackson’s $5,000 match, the DOGL Challenge generated more $13,000 for K in 24 hours.

Now that’s a day of gracious giving!