Students awoke on the morning of March 28 with a goal set in mind: find one of 20 stuffed Gungas hidden around campus and win a 500 dollars donation to a cause of the student’s choice.
Andover celebrated its seventh year of the Finding Gunga tradition that takes place on PA Giving Day, an annual fundraising event which rallies donors in our family and alumni network to reach a target donor goal. In recent years, the event has called on student engagement through the scavenger hunt-esque challenge.
The Office of Academy Resources (OAR) led the organization effort for the day. Kristin Faivre, Senior Associate Director of Annual Giving, addressed the efforts across offices, parents, and volunteers, to publicize and mobilize PA Giving Day so that the school could reach its goal.
“It takes major coordination with our department and our volunteer community. Our class agents, both co and head agents, as well as our Andover Fund parent volunteers, help corral the energy and get the word out to spread the day and make it successful for our part. There’s marketing efforts behind the scenes that include email, direct mail, social media, as well as just word of mouth, peer to peer solicitations. It’s a lot of high energy and it is fun. When we hit the goal this past year, there’s a bell within McKean Hall, and we rang that as we hit the goal. It was a lot of fun,” said Faivre.
In 2018, PA Giving Day was extended to involve current students, so students could feel more connected with Andover’s fundraising campaigns by having a deciding voice in where some of the money goes. Embraced by Andover students and faculty, the new model allowed for community members to have a more direct connection to philanthropy.
“[The tradition of hiding Gungas] was an effort to involve the students in the day that we were having, that was more alumni and family based. We wanted to have a footprint with the students. The first year we did the Gunga challenge was 2018, and that was an anonymous donor who very generously donated and we had ten Gungas that first year. The interest in this opportunity to be involved with the students and educate about philanthropy has been so well received in our community that the last two or three years, we have been able to hide 20 Gungas where students are able to designate 500 dollars to an area of campus of their choosing. It’s one of our favorite parts of the day over in OAR as well,” continued Faivre.
Kelvin Ma ’27 was the first person to find a Gunga on campus near the shuffleboard in Susie’s. Ma highlighted the significance of PA Giving Day and how his 500 dollar donation to the Institute of Teachers valued Andover as a community and institution alike.
“Not only can we find more teachers that can help with the school, but I think that’s very valuable to what Andover is as a community. For a lot of people, especially [for] the school itself, Andover Giving Day is definitely something that can help the community improve a whole lot. I can definitely see when people say, ‘Oh, this is a Giving Day, this can change the school,’ because I feel like with that money, I believe it was two million donated this year, which is absolutely insane, we can definitely improve the school for everyone. I think that’s very valuable,” said Ma.
Annabelle Wu ’26 found one of the Gungas hidden in Graves Hall, and she decided to allocate the 500 dollars to the Andover Fund. Similar to many students and faculty, Wu has enjoyed student involvement in PA Giving Day, as it gives her an opportunity to feel closer to fundraising efforts.
“I think it’s a really good idea for some of the students on campus to get involved… It’s just a time to be aware of what the school has done for us and also to have some fun with the scavenger hunt… Otherwise [the donations] kind of just feel really far away, and this Giving Day scavenger hunt is a good idea,” said Wu.
Susan Esty, Dean of Students and Residential Life, expressed her appreciation for PA Giving Day not only as a celebration of Phillips Academy’s endeavors, but also as a fundraiser inclusive of its students. She noted how this tradition allowed the entire Andover community to convey their love and gratitude for the school.
“What I really appreciate at this school is a real intentional inclusion of all people, and so it’s not just parents and alumni who have jobs for PA Giving Day. It is students, it’s the whole community. I really like that. I really like the intentional inclusion of students with the Gunga scavenger hunt. [PA Giving Day] means lots of love for the school from the whole community, [and] anybody who’s been impacted by our big blue spirit: the great education, the great relationships people form here, all the interesting wide range of programming. I think it’s a real celebration of Phillips Academy and that’s what I love about it,“ said Esty.
