A six-day, multi-channel fundraising campaign for Harvard Hillel that raised $136,174 against a $100,000 goal, roughly three times the prior year's result.
Hillel Global Giving Week is Harvard Hillel's annual public-goal fundraising drive: a fixed window each May, anchored by a dollar-for-dollar matching gift from Hillel International and Harvard Hillel board members, with a single rising thermometer and one big number at the end. The 2026 campaign launched with a $100,000 goal and a $50,000 dollar-for-dollar match from Hillel International and Harvard Hillel board members.
Every donor dollar up to $50,000 would be doubled, so the campaign had to drive at least $50,000 in donor giving across the window to bring the full match into play.
Six "A Place to..." themed videos over six campaign days. Four social reels and two spotlight short docs, with Harvard President Alan Garber anchoring two. Each drove a same-day landing page refresh, social rollout, and an email from a different constituency signer.
Match math carried across every piece: $50,000 in donor giving would unlock the full $50,000 match from Hillel International and Harvard Hillel board members, clearing the $100,000 goal.
From Professor Matt Meyerson, on the weekly Jewish lunch he and Professor Jeff Fredberg founded at Harvard's Longwood campus.
Harvard President Alan Garber and undergraduate Sarit Greenwood reflect on the spirit of pluralism that makes Harvard Hillel so unique.
Single-page campaign hub with a live progress thermometer. Refreshed daily with new hero imagery, spotlight copy, and video tied to that day's theme.
Give-early launch from Executive Director Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, the Friday before the active campaign week.
Tuesday's themed day centered on The People's Plate: Michael Mittleman's nine-foot interpretive Seder plate, installed in Harvard's Science Center Plaza. The day's email from Senior Director of Community Engagement Rabbi Elisha Gechter and a themed documentary film drove the campaign on Tuesday, with documentation of the installation extending beyond the campaign week into gallery descriptions, event listings, social coverage, and fundraising communications tied to the installation.
The campaign closed at $136,174: $86,174 in donor giving plus the full $50,000 match, clearing the $100,000 goal by 36% and surpassing a $125,000 stretch goal, making this the most successful campaign in the history of Harvard Hillel. This was the fourth consecutive Harvard Hillel public-goal campaign I architected to meet or exceed its target.