What A Difference a Day Made — And the Difference was You

INSEAD Giving Day 2021 – a joint initiative between the INSEAD Alumni Fund (IAF), INSEAD Alumni Association (IAA) and INSEAD – returned for its fifth year on 26 May and rounded off on 3 June to resounding success.

You Made a Difference!

After a bumpy 2020, the spring of 2021 brought a bourgeoning optimism as vaccinations slowly but surely gained momentum in many countries. This sense of hope and change infused Giving Day, with the theme “What a difference a day makes — and the difference is you.”

Indeed, what a difference you made! Within just one week, we surpassed our goals for both donor participation and amount raised. This Giving Day, a total of 2,514 alumni, students, staff, faculty and friends joined forces to raise €1,322,208 for the school.

Fuelled by a friendly sense of competition among countries and classes, France narrowly beat the UK to become the top nation in number of donors and amount raised, with USA, Singapore and Germany completing the top five. Canada and Korea achieved amazing participation rates, with 14% and 24%, respectively, as did Japan, with 8%. Among classes, MIM’21 emerged as the leader in participation, with MBA’99J, MBA’85J, MBA’03D and MBA’07J making up the top 5.

Many people contributed to the success of Giving Day, in many ways. From alumni-fundraisers to the individuals who organised events in the real and virtual realms, all deserve our acknowledgement and appreciation. For example:

• Fundraising volunteers from the INSEAD Alumni Fund and Young Alumni Initiative; reunion and class volunteers; INSEAD Alumni Association, National Alumni Association and National Alumni Club volunteers — by reaching out to fellow alumni, you all made it happen.
• Thanks to the many alumni who stepped forward to play a larger role in the event, we had a record nine Giving Day Challenges this year. Six challenges were met.
• We had two in-person events during Giving Day — one at the San Francisco Hub, the first since its closure for lockdown, and another hosted by an alumna at her home in New York.
• Social media was the place to see and be seen as the global INSEAD community celebrated Giving Day with selfies taken in their local cities. LinkedIn, in particular, was awash in stunning curated images of trees and clouds – a nod to our emergence from darker times, under blue skies once again.

A Force for Good, Now More Than Ever

These amazing results, during such challenging times, demonstrate the confidence INSEAD alumni have in the future of our school. Unrestricted gifts to the Dean’s Fund will help to fund much-needed scholarships and research and allow the school to respond swiftly to needs and opportunities as they arise, sustaining our impact as The Business School for the World. Giving Day isn’t about what each of us achieves alone; it’s about what we can accomplish together. For an independent, non-profit school like INSEAD, every gift and every donor matters. These remarkable results are only possible thanks to the collective generosity and commitment of our unique community.

To relive some of the magic of Giving Day 2021, enjoy the official video, below.