Bulletin News

04/02/2024 

Mark your calendars. SUNY Cortland’s annual, 24-hour fundraising event starts at midnight Wednesday, April 17, and there’s more at stake than ever.

This year, donors can help unlock potentially more than $130,000 in matching gifts — $30,000 more than last year — thanks to pledges made by numerous generous alumni, faculty and staff, and friends!

On Challenge Day, students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends can give to the Cortland Challenge cause of their choice at RedDragonNetwork.org/challenge.

Donors will be challenged to reach a succession of special giving milestones over the course of the day, unlocking a matching gift at every new level. There will also be an athletic challenge with a donor match, and a special giving competition between more than 40 academic and campus departments covered by matching gift pledges.

SUNY Cortland will also match up to $5,500 in dollar-for-dollar contributions to The Cortland Fund, a discretionary fund dedicated to the university’s greatest and most immediate areas of need that have an impact on the entire campus community.

“This has been a thrilling year for Red Dragons everywhere to show their pride in SUNY Cortland,” SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum said. “The Cortland Challenge offers yet another opportunity for our community to come together and support a common goal: to open doors for our current and future students. No gift is too small to help in this effort.”

Leading up to the big day, the entire campus community is encouraged to:

• Take part in the challenge by making their own gift, in addition to any they already made this year.
• Encourage others in the campus and alumni community to also give to the Cortland Challenge
• Spread the word on social media accounts. A good way to do this is by sending your own transformational Cortland story via the #CortlandChallenge hashtag.

To make a gift, learn more or track the Cortland Challenge’s progress, visit RedDragonNetwork.org/challenge.

And don’t forget, on Challenge Day, use the hashtag #CortlandChallenge to follow along with other Red Dragons through Facebook, Instagramand X (formerly Twitter).