Support from alumni played an especially important role in the success of the online, social media-driven campaign. Online endorsements by prominent alumni such as four-time Olympic gold medal-winning diver Greg Louganis and KCBS/KCAL news anchor Elsa Ramon helped boost excitement, while a UCI Alumni Association chapterwide challenge generated friendly competition among different alumni chapters. As the university prepares for its next comprehensive fundraising campaign, alumni support will be critical to the continued success and future growth of the university. Across social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn – UCI Giving Day was a popular topic. With the help of UCI faculty, staff, alumni and friends, #UCIGivingDay was at one point the most trending hashtag on Twitter, with more than 70 million impressions – up from 42.5 million last year.
Many schools and units throughout UCI and UCI Health claimed immense success this Giving Day with large dollar-for-dollar matching gifts and challenges. One was the School of Social Sciences, which for the second time received a generous donation from the estate of former faculty member Christian Werner to support graduate student research and scholarships.