UCA achieved its second-highest donation total with $758,130.49 on its eighth Day of Giving event on March 10th, 2022.

Over 1,950 donors contributed, bringing UCA’s year-to-date giving total to $9,957,771, passing the current year’s fundraising goal. 

Donors from 40 states and 14 nations gave during the 24-hour fundraising event. 

“It’s geared towards giving back to the part of the university that meant the most to them … It’s a department, it’s a program, it’s a student organization or maybe it’s a general scholarship fund,” Davis said.

“The opportunity to pay it forward, if we are here at all, relative to the world we’re blessed. Jenny and I are giving to quite a few. I just gave to News 6 and SGA,” Davis said. 

“Forget the overall dollars. We are always interested in trying to break that record of donors. In the end, that means whether it’s a dollar or 10,000 dollars, we want to have more people involved with the university,” Davis said.

Additionally, Davis said he gave to the Oxford American Fund, the Bear Food Pantry, the English Enhancement Fund, the Pride Alumni Club Fund and the Arkansas Shakespeare Fund, to name a few.

“We’re in the $100,000,000 capital campaign. All these efforts go towards that,” Davis said. UCA Now: Impact Arkansas and Beyond is a capital campaign running from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2024.

“To be nearly 85% towards our $100 million goal is a testament to the incredible support for our students and our university,” Davis said in a press release from UCA news. The UCA Now campaign fund now sits at $84,517,095.

The newly built Integrated Health Sciences Building and The Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts have benefited from the fund. It also supports the only educational range in the region and the only comprehensive film production in the state.

43% of donors were students, 36% were alumni, 15% were Faculty/Staff, 3% identified as friends of the university, and 3% were parents.

UCA’s Student Government Association collected donations at a booth outside of the Ronnie Williams Student Center.

“The students come in waves,” Honors College Representative Audra Watts said. “When classes get out, we get more donations.”

In an Instagram post, SGA said, “Each year SGA is able to give back from donations to a selective organization and/or program. This year SGA wants to match up to $3,000 of student donations towards the African/African American Studies Program.”

SGA donated $3000 to the AAAS program, pulling from its reserves, freshman class representative Brad Lewis said. 

The grand total was presented by SGA president Mya Hall, alongside President Houston Davis at the Buffalo Alumni Hall. Centennial Bank provided food to all in attendance. 

Since Day of Giving began in 2015, the university has raised more than $3.9 million in funding for the university. 

The highest Day of Giving total was $1,126,580 in 2020. 2021 saw a donation total of $717,095.