UC Riverside saw an outpouring of support Dec. 3, breaking the previous year’s Giving Tuesday records in the amount of money raised and number of donors contributing to a wide variety of causes and programs.

During the 24-hour event, part of the International Day of Giving, 2,048 donors contributed $227,663, according to preliminary figures. That’s almost twice as many donors as last year, in which 1,296 donors contributed $189,560.

“The UCR community showed up in a remarkable way to support Giving Tuesday, making it another a record-breaking year by demonstrating their commitment to elevating the mission of UCR,” said Marianne Paek, associate director of annual giving.

UCR Athletics had the most donors with 1,017 contributing a total of $47,785. The Guardian Scholars program, which helps students who have been in foster youth programs, was second with 338 donors.

However, it raised the most money with its donors giving a total of $50,243. The University Honors program came in third with 126 supporters and $5,105 in donations.

Those three campaigns also received additional funds from the UCR Foundation Trustees, which provided bonus funds to the three best-performing campaigns as part of its challenge.

Donors had 35 campaigns to choose from and 16 challenges in which donors agreed to match or provide additional funds if the challenge criteria were met. Those numbers represented the most ever during a Giving Tuesday event. A total of 2,328 gifts were received.

One of the most popular challenges was the Scotty Hunt, in which a miniature stuffed Scotty the Bear was hidden on campus with clues to its location provided on social media. Eric Calderon, a fourth-year student in the School of Public Policy, found Scotty after spending over a half-hour searching multiple locations.

Calderon designated the $800 from winning the challenge to the School of Public Policy Student Engaged Research Fund, saying he’s thankful for the “tremendous work” it does.

As part of the effort to publicize Giving Tuesday, the Office of Annual Giving set up tables on campus, providing free coffee and Polaroid photos to students while educating them on the importance of philanthropy. Laptop computers were arranged at each of the tables to provide instant access for those wanting to make a gift on the spot.

Across  campus, many departments took to social media to publicize the event.

The campus also received 78 donations from 14 countries outside the U.S. including Australia, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

A full list of the campaigns and how much money they raised is available at dayofgiving.ucr.edu.