CHALLENGES
& LEADERBOARDS
Check out the Giving Day Challenges happening only on Wednesday, October 28. Rally your peers to join in and help your school or program earn $300,000 in additional funds. Are you up for the challenge?
300+
$300,000
24
HOURLY CHALLENGES
UNLOCK CHALLENGE
Come together with fellow Columbians—classmates, colleagues, family, and friends—to make a collective impact through Columbia Giving Day. For every 100 gifts a school, program, or cause receives, additional challenge funds will be unlocked.
(E.g. After 100 overall gifts to GSAS, an additional $500 will be distributed to the GSAS Annual Fund; 200 gifts will result in an additional $1,000 to the GSAS Annual Fund).
CHAMPION CHALLENGE
Your support of Columbia powers the people and ideas that shape the future. If you sign up to be a Giving Day Champion, you will receive a unique link to spread the word about Giving Day to your friends and family. Every Giving Day gift made through your unique link counts toward the Champion Challenge, which awards the five Champions that secure the most gifts. Winners will be asked which fund they would like to contribute prize winnings to.
1st Place: $5,000 | 2nd Place: $4,000 | 3rd Place: $3,000 | 4th Place: $2,000 | 5th Place: $1,000
DAYLONG CHALLENGES
The following challenges will run throughout Giving Day and be awarded at the end of the day, once the criteria have been met, or a few days post-Giving Day, once reports are finalized.
New Donor Challenge
Giving Day donors help fuel solutions to the most important global issues through their support of Columbia’s students, faculty, and researchers. To ensure these Columbians can continue changing the world, increased participation on Giving Day is essential.
Every gift from a new donor will be matched* to the school, program, or cause they support, encouraging new participation across units.
*Every gift will be matched up to $1,000, while challenge funds remain available.
Welcome Back Challenge
Have you given on Giving Day before? Come back and do it again! Every donor who returns for Giving Day 2026 helps their school, program, or cause earn a share of the Welcome Back Challenge Fund. The more donors who come back, the more challenge dollars their school, program, or cause can earn.
G.O.L.D. (Graduates Of the Last Decade) Challenge
The top three undergraduate schools and top five graduate schools with the most G.O.L.D. donors throughout the whole day will win extra funds.
Undergraduate Prizes: 1st Place: $5,000 | 2nd Place: $4,000 | 3rd Place: $3,000
Graduate Prizes: 1st Place: $5,000 | 2nd Place: $4,000 | 3rd Place: $3,000 | 4th Place: $2,000 | 5th Place: $1,000
Global Challenge
Show our students, faculty, staff, and researchers the reach of our global network. Be one of five lucky international donors to unlock additional funds for the school, program, or cause you support.
Prize: $2,500 (Five $500 Winners)
Find Your Cause Challenge
Discover what inspires you! Take the Giving Day quiz to find your Columbia match and make a gift to that fund. Three lucky donors who complete the quiz and give to their matched area will earn bonus challenge funds for the cause they support.
Prize: $3,000 (Three $1,000 Winners)
Bingo Board Social Challenge
Help the school, program, or cause important to you to get bingo on their Giving Day digital bingo board before the end of the day on October 28.
Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) Scholarship Challenge
Columbia University Trustee Keith Goggin ’91JRN is generously providing a 1:1 match for all gifts made to the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) Scholarship, up to a total of $1 million. Make your gift and double your impact!
Give Beyond Cash Challenge
Make your gift through a donor-advised fund (DAF), IRA qualified charitable distribution (QCD), or appreciated stock for a chance to receive challenge funds for the Columbia school, program, or cause you support. Three donors who give through these methods will be selected at random.
Prize: $3,000 (Three $1,000 Winners)
1754 Society Challenge
1754 Society members who make a Giving Day gift will be eligible to receive challenge funds in recognition of their extraordinary commitment to Columbia and future generations. Five donors will be selected to be awarded challenge funds.
1,754th Alumni Gift
Show your love for your alma mater and your alumni gift just might be the lucky 1,754th to unlock bonus funds for your school, program, or cause.
Prize: $1,754
