St. Thomas raised $408,745 Tuesday as part of Tommie Give Day, St. Thomas first ever virtual fundraiser for the annual fund.

Benefactors donated in $20, $40, $100 or custom amounts through the website, and donations were matched dollar-for-dollar by St. Thomas alumni until the sum reached $190,000. Donors raised a total of $218,745 with the $190,000 matched amount included in the final total. The matched donations came from alumni, friends of the university and administrators.

Senior director of annual giving Jessica Etten said the money raised will be distributed to various areas of the university.

“Primarily, this is about the annual fund for St. Thomas,” Etten said. “Everything from scholarships to student life to faculty and academic programs, so it’s a broad range of things that are funded by the annual fund.”

Aside from alumni, many current Tommies got involved in the giving as well. The Summit Singers, St. Thomas’ male a capella group, filmed a promotional video for the fundraiser. Sophomore and club president Alex Noto was happy to be able to help a good cause.

“ Any promotional event designed to benefit the students is always a good opportunity,” Noto said. “With the rapidly rising cost of tuition, every little bit helps to bring more students into the classrooms, and add to the amount of students in higher education.”

This virtual fundraiser is the first of its kind for the university, and was inspired by the fundraising efforts of other schools.

“I think it’s a concept that other universities and colleges have used in the past, and it’s just something we’ve never tried here at St. Thomas,” Etten said. “It’s something that we’ve been really wanting to try.”