The last year has been a special one for Princeton athletics. From men’s basketball’s historic run to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament to wrestler Patrick Glory ’23’s national championship, it was nothing short of an incredible year for fans of the Orange and Black — who showed their support this past Tuesday during the 10th annual Tiger Athletics Give Day (TAGD).
TAGD is held each year on Giving Tuesday in an effort to raise money for not only the 38 varsity teams on campus but also the club teams that keep the Tiger spirit alive outside the classroom. This year’s TAGD broke the giving record for the 10th consecutive year, raising $5.3 million.
“I firmly believe that there is no better student-athlete experience than the one at Princeton, and Tiger Athletics Give Day is a prime example of the shared experience that connects our current student-athletes to the alumni and friends who have paved the way,” Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack ’00 said in a statement.
Mack went on to say, “There is tremendous energy and passion around Princeton Athletics every day, but TAGD is at another level in terms of the support for our student-athletes and programs. We are so grateful for the continued leadership of our Princeton Varsity Club [PVC] Board of Directors, who continue to provide the year-over-year bonus funds to help boost the competitive spirit among our programs.” Princeton Varsity Club is a booster group for Princeton athletics.
The rowing team had an overwhelming majority of donors, with over 1,100 people donating to the program, which has been one of the most successful programs on campus consistently. Last June, both the women’s and men’s lightweight teams claimed national titles at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Regatta. The football team, which has the largest roster on campus with over 100 student-athletes, had 348 donors.
While the football team did not have as many donors as some would have expected, they did raise nearly $500,000. The track team raised the most money, raising over $500,000 and getting an extra $10,000 in bonuses for finishing first in their pool.
As an incentive to encourage as much participation as possible, the official TAGD website has live leaderboards and places sports into different groups. There are two leaderboards: one for the number of total donors and another for the amount of money raised. By placing first in their group on either leaderboard, a team is eligible for potentially another $10,000 in bonus funds.
These bonus funds are provided by the PVC Board of Directors, who over the last 10 years have allocated nearly $2 million in bonus funds to teams.
Additionally, each team had a goal this year to exceed their nine-year average amount of dollars raised. Every single program met this goal with the golf team beating their nine-year TAGD average by 331 percent. Every program received an additional $2500 bonus for meeting the goal, with the golf program getting an additional $5000 on top of that for exceeding the average the most.
While the rowing team did have the most donors, the average donor donated under $300. The golf team had fewer than 200 donors, but each donor donated on average over $2500, paving the way for the golf team to exceed all donation expectations.
“Additionally, TAGD would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, Friends Group leaders/volunteers, and campus colleagues who worked tirelessly to make this day possible. I am appreciative of the effort everyone puts into TAGD to further enrich the championship experience in competition and on campus for Princeton student-athletes,” Mack said.
Mack ended his statement by saying, “Every gift makes a difference and is an investment in helping to develop and support the finest student-athletes and coaches in the world.”
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate Sports editor at the ‘Prince.’
Bryan Wang is a contributing Data writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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