NIU’s first-ever Day of Giving is underway.  A university-wide online fundraising event, the Day of Giving provides a great opportunity to support students, scholarships and programs at NIU.

In the College of Visual and Performing Arts, you have multiple opportunities to contribute:

Strategic Priorities – The Strategic Priorities Fund in the College of Visual and Performing Arts provides flexible, essential resources for students and faculty and allows college leadership to respond to the most pressing needs and opportunities. Current priorities include but are not limited to: student and faculty travel, equipment, visiting artists and experiential learning opportunities.

Scholarships – A well-timed scholarship can change the life of an NIU student. Your gift will support recruitment and retention scholarships for students studying art, music, theatre or dance.

School/Unit Support – The College of Visual and Performing Arts is comprised of three schools – Art and Design, Music and Theatre and Dance – as well as the NIU Art Museum and the Community School of the Arts. Your gift can be designated specifically to one of the schools or units to support their area of greatest need.

Through your support of the Day of Giving, you are helping to unleash the next generation of artists studying at NIU. You are helping to train outstanding music and art teachers, actors, musicians, dancers, designers, visual artists, art historians – and the list goes on.

This is an opportunity to Unleash an Artist, and transform the lives of students studying the arts at NIU.

College of Visual and Performing Arts Day of Giving Challenges

Annette and Jerry Johns College of Visual and Performing Arts Challenge
Annette and Jerry Johns want to start the Day of Giving off right. When the College of Visual and Performing Arts reaches 125 total donors, they will make a gift of $6,000 to support the Aspirational Impact Fund in the School of Art and Design to encourage creative endeavors that current funds do not allow for or provide. 

CVPA Leadership Society Challenge for the School of Music
Members of the Leadership Society have combined their support to incentivize giving from alumni and the community to the School of Music. When 50 donors make a contribution to support the school, it will unlock gifts totaling $5,000 from the VPA Leadership Society. 

Johns Challenge for the NIU Art Museum and Community School of the Arts
Annette and Jerry Johns want to challenge alumni, friends and the community to support the NIU Art Museum and the Community School of the Arts. To incentivize giving to these units, the Johns will add a gift of $5,000 to the Day of Giving totals when each unit exceeds 25 donors. 

CVPA Advisory Council Challenge for the School of Theatre and Dance
The Dean’s Advisory Council in the College of Visual and Performing Arts is challenging the community and alumni to support the School of Theatre and Dance. Gifts totaling $3,000 from members of the council will be added to the day of giving totals when the school reaches 25 donors. 

Morrissey Family Challenge for Music Education
The Morrissey family challenges alumni and friends to support the Music Education program during the Day of Giving. Funds will support guest speakers, conducting workshops and other enrichment experiences for students. The family will make a contribution of $1,500 when 25 gifts have been made to Music Education. 

Janet Hathaway Challenge for Visual and Performing Arts
Janet Hathaway is encouraging donors to help double her support of the Strategic Priorities Fund in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Janet will match gifts made today, dollar-for-dollar, up to $1,500. 

Chris and Eric Luskin Scholarship Challenge
Chris and Eric Luskin want to inspire scholarship giving to the College of Visual and Performing Arts. When the college reaches 50 donors to the scholarship fund, it will unlock a $10,000 gift in support of student scholarships. 

Altendorf Momentum Challenge
NIU alumnus Michael Altendorf ’79, ’81 MBA, and his wife Susan are impressed by NIU’s Day of Giving progress and want to see it continue.  When we reach 700 total donors, it will unlock a $26,000 gift to support student scholarships.

Recent Grad Challenge
A group of NIU recent graduates (Classes of 2009-2018) are challenging fellow Huskies to make a gift.  When 100 recent graduates make a gift during the Day of Givin, an additional gift of $2,500 to support student scholarships will be added to our giving day totals.