Institute has “A Day Like No Other” on GiveUNC

April 4, 2021

The UNC Institute for the Environment had a “day like no other,” raising more than $325,000 from more than 70 donors in 24 hours on GiveUNC on Mar. 30. The Institute placed among the top four campus units from across UNC-Chapel Hill for the second consecutive year behind only the Kenan-Flagler Business School, College of Arts and Sciences and the Gillings School of Global Public Health. GiveUNC, Carolina’s university-wide day of giving, engages alumni, friends, faculty, staff and other Carolina supporters to invest in the causes they care about most.

“GiveUNC is a chance to showcase the exciting things we have ongoing and engage with our amazing group of supporters,” says Mike Piehler, director of the UNC Institute for the Environment. “The IE is a remarkable group whose great work fuels interest in supporting us. We are exceptionally fortunate to have a generous and engaged Board of Visitors who are the foundation for our fundraising successes. We laid out audacious goals for GiveUNC and we exceeded them.”

The strength of GiveUNC is in the collective impact donors from across the world can make in just one day. This year, IE Board of Visitors (BOV) member Pavel Molchanov, IE friend and long-time Clean Tech Summit supporter Brian Bednar ’92 as well as an anonymous donor provided an array of “challenge” match gifts to encourage maximum support.

The Institute unlocked all 8 of the challenges, including two social media goals. IE BOV Chair Bryan Brice rallied the board to match a $100,000 challenge from Molchanov, which overwhelmingly was met. The Institute also received more than 20 gifts from IE and UNC staff, students and faculty both current and former. Friends of the Institute near and far also helped to make this day a success.