The 24-Hour Challenge (2016) was designed to inspire the Rice community to come together for a grand and visionary call-to-action. February 29th, leap day, was chosen both to signify the leap that Rice would make in participation and to call to mind Rice's historical and still important ties to space exploration. John F. Kennedy declared that the country will go to the moon at Rice Stadium in 1962. The 24-Hour Challenge aspired to harness the same feeling of collective endeavor. To build on the feeling of community, Rice expanded the 24-Hour Challenge audience from only undergraduate alumni, as was the case in previous challenges, to graduating seniors, graduate alumni, and parents. Having a broader base demanded that Rice set its donor goal higher than ever before, which added to the feeling of making history. They more than doubled their 2,400 donor goal from the previous challenge to an ambitious 5,000 in a single day, and the Board of Trustees pledged to commit a $500,000 matching gift.
From the Judges' Report
Very clever use of leap day. The tie-in reinvented online engagement and was a powerful shock to the system to increase engagement. Excellent results.
