On April 9, 2026, the entire William Peace University community will come together to support students through Peace Giving Day. Alumni, faculty, staff, and supporters will help raise funds for the school during the 24-hour giving challenge, with a participation goal of 300 donors.
Participants have extra incentives to help achieve the goal this year through their gifts — one alumna has pledged a series of challenge gifts throughout the day totaling $25,000 to support student scholarships. Two additional alumni have pledged over $10,000 for challenges to support alumni participation.
“Challenge gifts from our alumni are critical, both because they increase the overall funds raised during the 24-hour period, but more importantly, because they encourage other alumni to join the effort,” said Vice President for Advancement Paul Scherschel.
Proceeds from the day will go towards the Peace Annual Fund, which directly supports student scholarships.
“Nearly 100% of students receive some form of financial aid from Peace,” said Kim Kelley, director of annual giving. “We committed close to $12 million dollars last year of institutional funding to students, and this is a way to help current and future Peace students continue to get the great education they want and need.”
Gifts also support other aspects of the Peace experience such as immersive learning, faculty mentorship, and athletics, as well as the University’s historic campus. Donors have the opportunity to designate their gifts toward student-centered priorities.
In preparation for the day, Kelley and other members of the advancement team at Peace have been reaching out to alumni through direct calls, emails to alumni and donors, and social media.
According to Kelley, challenges throughout the day will unlock additional gifts, all made by Peace alumni. On April 9, anyone can create their own challenge or matching gift on the website to encourage their friends, classmates, or community members to donate. All alumni have received a unique giving link via email to share with fellow alumni and friends and encourage them to give.
The donor participation-based goal highlights the importance of every gift, large and small.
“We want to stress that every gift matters,” Schershcel said. “That collectively adds up to a big impact.”
Supporters can sign up to make early donations if they don’t want to wait until April 9.
Empowering the Community
A dedicated Peace Giving Day website provides a centralized resource to use prior to and throughout the day. A live leaderboard allows supporters to track progress toward goals at any point and easily share information about the day using social media links. The website also includes an advocate leader board to show the person who has been the most influential in getting others to donate.
Scherschel encouraged alumni and friends to follow Peace’s Facebook and Instagram accounts on Giving Day to see photos, videos, and new challenges.
“It’s a visible way for the community to come together to support Peace,” Scherschel said. “This is an opportunity to support our students so that they can go on and join that community after they graduate.”
