Fueled by the Alumni Council, Powered by Champions
The Alumni Council has over $30,000 up for grabs to benefit student clubs, varsity teams, academic departments, scholarships or any other official SMCM fund or cause. The best part? As a Giving Tuesday Champion, you can influence where the money goes!
Become a Champion
Deadline to Apply: November 10, 2025
Champions rally their friends and family to support SMCM on Giving Tuesday, helping us reach our goal of 3,500 donors. In return, they can earn big for the SMCM fund or cause they care about most, plus score exclusive SMCM merch!
After signing up, all Champions will gain access to resources to help them succeed in raising funds. These include pre-event Zoom training sessions, pre-scripted social media posts and special donation URL links to make it easy for supporters to give you their donations and votes.
Apply to be a Champion by midnight on Monday, November 10 through the button below. Alumni, students, employees—all supporters of SMCM are invited to participate!
Three ways champions
earn for their cause
1. Share Your Special Link
Share the unique link that we provide you to take your supporters straight to the SMCM Giving Tuesday form, with your chosen cause pre-filled in the designation field. Every gift goes directly to your SMCM fund, making this the easiest and most impactful way to increase your total.
2. Get Students and Alumni to Vote for You
Reach out to students and alumni to encourage them to select you as their Champion on the SMCM Giving Tuesday form. Each verified vote from a student or alum earns an additional $10 from the $30,000 donated by the Alumni Council for your cause and helps you climb the leaderboard.
3. Be a Top 10 Champion
Your name will also appear on the official Champion leaderboard throughout the 32-hour challenge. Finish among the top ten by total verified donor votes, and your SMCM fund will receive prize money from the Alumni Council’s $30,000 prize pool, ranging from $500 to $5,000 to support the program, team or initiative you represent.
The Rules
Champion Eligibility
- Champions must sign up by midnight on Monday, November 10 through the link below.
- All SMCM alumni, students, parents and employees are invited to participate (except members of the SMCM Institutional Advancement team).
- Champions must select an official SMCM student club, varsity team, academic department or one of the many SMCM Foundation funds to direct their winnings.
- Official campus groups cannot combine efforts to publicly support one Champion and split the winnings (for example, Field Hockey and Men’s Rugby cannot use team resources, like social media accounts, to support the Field Hockey Champion and share the prize money)
Donor Rules
- Donors can only vote for one Champion during the official campaign hours (Monday, December 1 at 4 p.m. to Tuesday, December 2 at midnight EST).
- If a donor makes multiple donations and selects multiple Champions, OR votes for the same Champion more than once, only the first vote will be counted.
- The name listed on the donor form MUST match the name on the credit or debit card, otherwise, the Champion vote will be disqualified (for example, a student cannot use a parent’s credit or debit card to make a donation and vote. Donors cannot make a donation on behalf of another individual and list the other individual’s name as the donor, even if they are reimbursed).
- Donor names listed on the giving form that are not credible (such as pets, celebrities, cartoons, etc.) will have their Champion votes disqualified.
- If a donor does not have a credit or debit card, but wishes to vote for a Champion, they must visit the Campus Center Patio between 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2 to make their donation
Reporting the Results
- The results displayed on the website throughout the event are preliminary. Official results will be announced via email and posted on the Giving Tuesday website on Friday, December 19, after all gifts are processed and ineligible votes have been removed.
- Alumni and student donors will be verified against database records before the $10 will be awarded to the Champion who received their vote.
- The prize pool may change at the planning committee’s discretion as additional donations from the Alumni Council come in.
- All prizes will be awarded, and merchandise will be mailed shortly after the winners are announced.
Rack up votes, earn merch
Champions can score exclusive prizes as they rack up the donor votes. The more votes you gather, the better the merch you earn.
You’ve worked hard to raise all this money on Giving Tuesday, so you deserve some exclusive SMCM merchandise! Inspire one or more donors to give on Giving Tuesday AND select you as their Champion on the giving form to earn these special spirit-themed prizes:
How All This Works
Phase One: Building the Prize Pool
The Alumni Council pledges over $30,000 to create this year’s Champion prize pool. This happens in the months leading up to Giving Tuesday.
Phase Two: Recruit and Train Champions
The Institutional Advancement team recruits SMCM community members to champion a fund or cause they care about. After the November 10 registration deadline, you’ll receive emails with helpful tips, optional Zoom sessions, and online resources to guide you as you prepare to rally donors.
Phase Three: Set Up the Giving Form
Each Champion’s name and cause are added to a dropdown on the Giving Tuesday donation form, making it easy for donors to select their Champion and direct their gift.
Phase Four: Kick Off the Challenge
The 32-hour competition runs from 4 p.m. the Monday before Giving Tuesday until midnight on Giving Tuesday. Champions rally students, alumni and their personal networks to donate $10 or more and vote for them.
Phase Five: Track Your Progress
Live updates throughout Giving Tuesday show donor counts, estimated totals and the Champion leaderboard. Standout Champion content is highlighted to keep the excitement going.
Phase Six: Verify, Reward and Celebrate
After Giving Tuesday, all donations are reviewed for accuracy and eligibility. The top 10 Champions earn prizes from $500 to $5,000 for their SMCM fund or cause, and every verified student or alumni vote also earns an additional $10 bonus from the Alumni Council. Official results will be announced on Friday, December 20, after all gifts are processed.
