UMBS sends a huge thank you from the bottom of Douglas Lake to everyone who participated in the 2016 Giving BlueDay. We are delighted to announce that you raised more than $13,257 for UMBS scholarships and habitats on November 29, 2016.

That number represents nearly a 40% increase over last year. In fact, this year the Biological Station raised the most money in Giving BlueDay on-line gifts of any College of Literature, Science and the Arts department. We aren’t surprised: you’re always telling us how special the Biological Station is to you.

Our total number of donors rose from 36 to 48. That number includes 7 first-time donors, 18 repeat donors from last year, and 6 of you who are current students or recent (in the past 3 years) graduates.

A major feature of Giving BlueDay is the university’s coordinated social media presence. To motivate gift giving as well as have fun, the Office of University Development (OUD) issued hourly “challenges.” Participants could post responses to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Challenges included things like “Tell us your favorite U-M hangout” and “Snap a selfie. Share it…and the name of the unit you want to support.” OUD put everyone who participated in each challenge into an hourly drawing for a bonus $1,000 to the unit of their choice. Although we didn’t win any of the hourly challenge give-aways, we filled the internet with “Bug Camp” love nonetheless. Enjoy this summary of the photos and sentiments people shared.

For the third consecutive year, we are recognizing donors and participants by entering their names in a drawing for UMBS t-shirts. This year’s raffle winners are: Katey Carey, Irene Crum, Michael Doherty and Juliet Slutzker.

The University of Michigan as a whole raised more than $5.5 million from 7,364 victors.